Retribution
by Clairisant2000
Summary: This is the sequel to Jurisdiction, where Jordan meets up with Harm again...or does she?
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Retribution

AUTHOR: Clairisant

CLASSIFICATION: Too complicated to list…trust me on this one!

FEEDBACK: Would love to hear both good and bad feedback but please try to be kind and constructive. Clairisant

CREDITS: A special thank you to my beta readers Qupeydoll and Unicorn.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sequel to Jurisdiction, and a crossover story with Crossing Jordan.

Chapter 1

Wednesday, 3 September 2003

1015 EST

Medical Examiner's Office

Boston, Massachusetts

After breaking a big case Garret usually let a couple of days slide without criticism of her tardiness. Jordan considered it high praise if this behavior lasted more than two days. The Trask case must have really impressed him, because the criticism sabbatical had lasted five days! Unfortunately that ended ten days ago and she was back in the dog house again.

Not even the fact that he and Lily had started dating had cut into the flack he gave her. The only difference it had made was that now he would bawl her out with a smile on his face. It was creepy!

She had been trying to be on time, but everything she tried never seemed to work. The one idea that she had thought to be her best one yet had back fired. In truth, it had worked the first day, and she had been proud of the fact that she had gotten to work only one minute late! So, that night when she'd gotten home, she'd set her alarm clock back one more minute. Now she had an additional forty six minutes to get ready in the morning.

However, when the alarm went off, she reminded herself that the clock didn't show the real time and she hit the snooze button…more than once… The end result was that she ended up being even later than she normally was!

Garret was leaving Lily's office as Jordan stepped off the elevator. She had been hoping to get to her own office without being noticed. Unfortunately, her luck was running true to form that morning and she was seen even before the elevator doors could close behind her.

He didn't even have to look down at his watch to see the time. There was a decorative clock behind her on the wall next to the elevator that tattled just how late she was. His eyes had flown to the clock and back to her as she walked towards him. The creepiness was back. His eyebrows almost met in a scowl even though there was still a smile on his lips as he said, "You know if you get any later, you'll step off the elevator only to get back on again to leave for lunch!"

She thought about a quick snippy reply, but in the end knew it wouldn't do any good. "Sorry, boss," was her only response.

The surprise was clear on his face at that and she jumped in to add, "I will try to do better, and I know you don't like explanations, or excuses as you call them, but my alarm clock really did betray me today!"

Garret rolled his eyes at her then, without a word, turned and marched into his office.

Jordan headed to her own office without stopping off for her usual morning chat with Lily, Bug, and Nigel. She knew she could only push Garret so far before he really blew up at her.

Mere minutes had passed from the time she sat down at her desk and Lily breezed into the office.

"Later than usual today," she stated rather than asked.

"Yeah, long story," she said as she pulled the top file off the mini-mountain that was piled on her desk. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you didn't make it in for our usual coffee break so I thought I would drop by to tell you about my date last night. I didn't want you to think that Bug and Nigel were in the know and you weren't."

Leaning back in her chair, she replied, "Since I assume you are still seeing Garret, I have to wonder if he really wants you sharing details of your love life."

"Hey, I figured that you would want to be kept up to speed since you are my best friend and therefore will be my maid of honor at the wedding!"

"Wedding!" Jordan gasped. "I thought Garret was off marriage after the way things ended with his ex!"

"Well he is going to have to marry me before little Garret Jr. or Little Lily is born," she announced with a dreamy smile on her face.

"You're pregnant? I thought you guys had only been dating two weeks!" Jordan asked incredulously.

"We have, and I'm not…yet anyway. But I am planning on having his children one day."

"What does Garret have to say about that?" Jordan demanded.

"Oh, I haven't told him yet. But really when do men really have a say in these things? Oh sure, we let them think they do, and even let them do the proposing in most cases. However, truthfully, women are the ones who do the deciding!" With a giggle, she asked, "So, do you want to hear about the date or not?"

"I really would Lily, but if I don't get some of this paperwork done your groom will kill your maid-of-honor before she can plan your bachelorette party. How about you tell me at lunch?"

"It's a date!" she declared and practically skipped out of the office.

With a weary sigh Jordan pulled a file towards her and began to work.

Forty-five minutes later her phone rang. Answering it, she was surprised at who was calling her. He had said he would call, but she had figured it was just an empty promise.

"Hello Jordan, I'm in town and was hoping you didn't have lunch plans."

Trying to keep her tone of voice business-like, she asked, "And what brings you to town, Agent Rabb?"

"I thought we were on first name basis. Why not make it Harm?"

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was amazingly easy to escape from prison if you took your time and had an agenda that covered all contingencies. Everything had been meticulously planned and now the time was right to seek his revenge. While in prison he had ingeniously set up an eBay account to buy and sell things, sending the funds to his Swiss bank account.

He knew that the first place the officials looked for escaped cons was amongst relatives and friends. Since he had neither, they would consider the revenge angle next and contact his old nemesis to let him know of the escape. However he was much too clever to go after his prey directly. Instead he would strike at him from another direction.

That was how he was sure no one would be looking for him in Boston. There was no reason for him to be there, not unless you knew the inner workings of his mind and he was sure no one did. Having carefully investigated his nemesis' life while he was locked away, he knew why he'd left JAG. He knew about his time in the CIA and how that came to an end. He even knew that Harm was now crop dusting 'oh how the mighty F14 pilot had fallen!'.

However, his nemesis had left behind someone special in Boston at the end of one of his CIA missions. That someone was oh-so vulnerable to his grand scheme! Yes, he would go to Boston, and he would finally have his revenge on Harmon Rabb Jr. He had tried to kill off the previous 'Jordan' in Rabb's life, but somehow he had been thwarted in that plan. He had thought about killing this new Jordan that had found her way into Rabb's life, but, instead of killing her, he decided on a better way of getting revenge on Rabb.

His plan was now, not to torment Rabb by taking Ms Cavanaugh out of his life for good, but rather he would romance her AS Harmon Rabb! He would get her to fall in love with Harmon Rabb, and then he would marry her, making her Mrs. Harmon Rabb Jr.! With any luck at all, there would also be a child to stick in Rabb's craw.

This plan was foolproof! The two and a half weeks from Rabb's appearance in the news over the case in Boston and the escape from prison had been filled with research. So many things were public record these days and it was so easy to find the information you wanted if you only knew where to look, which is how he knew everything he could about every name in the news article. He also followed the trial as it progressed and was now armed with detailed data about: Jordan Cavanaugh, her father Max Cavanaugh, her aunt Meredith Cavanaugh, who was engaged to Rabb's former Commanding Officer, Admiral AJ Chegwidden. He also had the lowdown on the detective on the case Woodrow Hoyt, the killer's wife and daughter, LaVon Trask and Tuyen Trask, as well as the psychic in the case, Clara Rose.

Rabb would never again forget how wrong it was to cross Clark Palmer!

He checked into a hotel. Nothing too fancy, after all, he had supposedly just lost his job. Also it wasn't one of the major chains because he wanted to stay under the radar. His wardrobe was typical Rabb, and the brand new credit cards in his wallet were also under the ex-Navy, ex-CIA Agent's name. The stage was set, his disguise in place, everything was ready for act one!

Jordan was on her way to the elevator when Lily rushed up to her side. "Boy, you're in a hurry! You must be really hungry."

"Damn!" Jordan exclaimed.

"What?" Lily questioned.

"I'm so sorry, Lily! I forgot we were going to have lunch together! I got a call from Harm. He's in town and wanted to meet…I really am sorry!"

"Oh," Lily's expression fell, "I see, so you're hurrying off to meet him?"

"Yeah, it was such a surprise that he called. It made me forget about our plans. Can you forgive me?"

"Sure," she said with a sigh. As the elevator doors pinged opened, Lily turned away and walked back down the hall.

Jordan was feeling bad about disappointing Lily, she would have gone after her to apologize again, if she hadn't already been running late to meet Harm. Promising herself she would do something nice for Lily to make it up to her, she pushed the button for the first floor and allowed herself to wonder how long Harm was in town for.

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"It seems I've shocked you," Harm said, placing a hand over hers where it rested on the table.

"Yeah," Jordan answered. "You don't call or contact me in any way then you show up here out of the blue claiming I am the answer to your prayers!"

He grinned at her, "I don't know about prayers, but you do seem to be the answer to what I want in my life. I don't expect you to just fall into my arms, but I do hope that you will give us a chance to see where things could lead?"

Staring at him feeling very stunned, she finally managed to gasp out, "You're serious about that?"

"I am. I've looked at my life and the choices I've made, and realized that of the things I regret, not keeping in touch with you was a large one and the one that I most wanted to correct. So, I'm here…"

"I can see that," she stated the obvious, more out of a need to say something, or rather anything, and not really sure what else to say to this revelation.

With a satirical smile he asked, "So do you have plans for dinner?"

Thinking back to the first day they'd met, she gave him a grin and the same answer she had back then, "Not at the moment."

Being able to read body language had been an early part of his training and he could tell that her answer had some special significance, so playing it very carefully he smiled into her eyes, giving her a knowing look to imply that he remembered, he said, "Wonderful, you do now."

Fighting an unaccustomed urge to blush at the look in his eyes, Jordan decided to change the subject, "So what career opportunities are you planning to pursue?"

"I have a bit of savings put aside so I don't need to jump back into something too quickly. I want to take some time and make the right choice."

"What are you considering?"

"I could see about returning to the Navy, even if Chegwidden won't have me back at JAG. I could open my own law office or join a firm. There are always a multitude of commercial flying jobs, but for now at any rate, I'm taking a well deserved break. I'm going to kick back and enjoy some time off and of course spend as much time with you as I can," he offered the last with a cocky grin.

"Hold that thought!" she told him with a smile as she dug into her purse for her ringing cell phone. She finished the call quickly and then reluctantly said, "Speaking of work, I have to run now." She got to her feet, leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek and asked, "Where should I meet you for dinner?"

"I'll make reservations somewhere nice, why don't you call me once you get home so you can change into something dressy? I'll come by and pick you up."

"You have your car here?" she looked surprised.

"No, but I plan on renting one for my stay this afternoon," he informed her.

"Okay, I'll call. Same cell number?"

"I have a new one," he said, quickly writing it on a paper napkin and handing it to her.

He paid the bill and then spent the afternoon running some errands, only one of which was renting a car.

Arriving in the alley behind Lexington Street, Jordan was not surprised to see Detective Hoyt already on the scene of the double homicide. He gave her the info that he had on the two Hispanic males. They were known drug dealers and the confrontation that ended in their deaths appeared to be a buy gone bad.

As she assessed the scene, giving him estimated time of death, and arranging for the bodies to be taken in, Woody listened and took notes. When 'business' was taken care of he put away his pad and asked, "So what have you been up to the past few days?"

It had been three days since their last case was resolved and that long since they'd seen each other, nothing much had happened except for the arrival of Harmon Rabb in town. Remembering how at odds he and Woody had been the last time Harm was here she decided it might be better not to share that news. "Nothing much," she answered and then asked, "How about you?"

"Just more work," he told her and with an eager expression suggested, "Why don't I follow you back to the office to see if you can give me any more info on these guys?"

"That's not really necessary, Woody. It will take time to run tests. I can just call you when we get the results." Jordan knew how Lily loved to talk and was pretty sure that if Woody encountered her, he would be told about Harm's arrival.

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Since they had started dating, Garret and Lily had been leaving work together each day. That evening, Jordan waited only moments after they were gone before she headed home herself. On the way, she couldn't help but reflect on the well meaning grilling she'd gotten from Lily when she'd returned from lunch.

Dropping her purse in her office, she was on her way to autopsy when Lily accosted her in the hall. Seemingly having forgiven Jordan about cancelling their lunch date at the last moment in her desire for information, Lily questioned, "So how was it? Why is he in town? How long will he be here this time? Does Woody know he's here?"

Stopping dead in her tracks at the barrage of questions, Jordan wondered if the CIA knew about the untapped potential for a master interrogator hidden away in the Boston ME's office. Grinning at Lily, she answered in as quick a succession as they had been asked, "Wonderful. To see me. Unknown. No, and I'd like to keep it that way for a while."

Jordan had started moving again as soon as she'd finished, leaving Lily to process the info she'd given her. It didn't take as long as Jordan had expected.

She had only taken three steps when Lily was by her side once again with one more question. It seemed like the last answer she'd gotten was the one that most stirred her need to follow up. "Why don't you want Woody to know that Agent Rabb is in town?"

Stopping again, Jordan told her, "Because I know he wouldn't take it well. Woody thinks he has feelings for me and acts jealous every time I look at someone else."

"He's jealous! It's because he loves you Jordan!" Lily protested.

"He can't love me! We've never even dated!"

Lily snorted, "Like that matters? I knew I loved Garret before we started dating. Sometimes it just takes longer for one person than the other to realize it."

"I'm not going to realize anything about Woody except that he is my friend. If I'm ever going to have those kinds of feeling for anyone it will most likely be Harm. Oh Lily! You should have seen him at lunch! He was so endearing when he told me that his biggest regret in life was not contacting me after he left town!"

"Are you sure that's not just a line, Jordan? It sounds like something out of the playboy's handbook."

"He was sincere, Lily. I could tell," Jordan stated firmly.

"Okay, Jordan, but please be careful. I want you to be happy, so just be sure he really means it."

"I will," she assured her friend.

Jordan sighed as she hurried to get ready for her date with Harm. She had called to say she was home and changing, and was pleased at the eagerness in his voice to see her again. Putting on her favorite red dress, the one Harm had liked so well the last time she wore it, she amazed herself by being ready when his knock came at her door.

He gave her an appreciative glance and said, "You look beautiful, I love that dress."

"That is exactly what you said the last time. I don't want you to think that this is the only dress I own, I decided to wear it because I remembered how well you liked it."

Glad that her explanation had filled him in on that score, he told her, "And that hasn't changed one bit, it is still as lovely as the last time. Are you ready to go? I made reservations at Bellini's."

"I've heard its good, but I've never been there. Did you ask if they have vegetarian selections on the menu?"

"You remembered," he faked a pleased expression. Not having meat while pretending to be Harmon Rabb was the most annoying thing about this pose. It was too bad that Jordan knew that fact, but even if she hadn't, it wouldn't have mattered. Palmer was very much into the details when impersonating someone to take the chance that something like that would trip him up. He would even refuse to give into the temptation when she wasn't around for fear of blowing his cover before he was ready to reveal his true self.

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Dinner was very pleasant and even his meatless selection was tasty. Palmer was not at all surprised when Jordan invited him in when they arrived back at her apartment. There had been no way to know for sure if she and Rabb had a sexual relationship, but having studied Harm extensively over the years, it had been a safe assumption, and one he was prepared for.

Her apartment wasn't neat and tidy as he might have expected from a medical professional, but since she didn't apologize for it, he guessed that 'he' had supposedly seen the place before. Luckily the apartment was laid out in an open floor plan with only one door other than the entrance in sight and it stood open so her bedroom was in clear view.

She kicked off her shoes almost the moment she was in the door and because of the mess he guessed it was more because she disliked wearing them rather than because she was trying to keep the dirt out. With a grin she took his hand and started pulling him towards the bedroom. "Do you want something to drink…" she trailed off.

He beamed a smile as he willingly followed her. "My thirst is only for you," he vowed with his free hand over his heart.

Jordan giggled as he meant her to, while she reached up to remove his tie. The next several minutes were occupied with the both of them undressing each other and moving to the unmade bed. He paused only a moment as he took the condom from his wallet and placed it on the nightstand.

Palmer's knowledge of Rabb was complete even to the brand of prophylactics he preferred. When he'd had Harm tied up in his own apartment, he'd had ample opportunity to study such details of Harm's lifestyle.

Seeing what he had done, she smiled and told him, "There's no need for that, I'm taking birth control pills now."

With a smile he tossed it in the bedside trash, and then after satisfying her, and reaching his own fulfillment he pulled her into his arms. "Happy?" he questioned when she sighed.

"Well, that was the first time we've had sex when we hadn't had an argument first."

"So, should I have started a fight with you first? Is that what you wanted? Or maybe making love was better than having sex?"

"Don't get me wrong, what we had before was good, but I do prefer the lovemaking."

"Good, because I have to say, I do too."

When her alarm went off the next morning, he looked at the clock with a skeptical eye and asked, "What time to you have to be at work?"

With a disgruntled sigh she told him and then explained her habitual tardiness.

He grinned and told her, "I'll make breakfast while you get a shower and dress, we'll see if we can't get you do work on time today."

Dragging herself out of bed, she grumbled, "If I'm on time twice in a month it might give Macy a heart attack." Then she brightened at the thought, "It could be almost worth the effort!"

Arriving in the building in time to ride up in the same elevator that Bug and Nigel were in, earned her a stunned look from the first, and the second clutched at his heart and fell back against the wall, faking a heart attack. This earned Nigel a punch in the arm for his dramatic reaction.

"Trying for brownie points with Dr. M?" Bug asked.

"No," was all she would say.

"Maybe it has something to do with that satisfied glow on her face," Nigel suggested.

Jordan glared at him and demanded, "Lily told you Harm was in town, didn't she?"

Seeing the matching smirks on both their faces, she didn't need any more confirmation. "I will kill her," she muttered as the elevator doors opened on their floor and the three of them got out, heading for the break room for morning coffee.

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Lily was already in the room pouring herself some coffee when she heard their entrance. Before turning to face them, she asked, "So you two want your usual?"

"Hey! What about me?" Jordan questioned with a pout.

Lily spun around in surprise at the sound of Jordan's voice. She almost dropped the hideously ugly coffee mug Jordan had given her from the physic that had helped them on the Trask case. Bug sprung to her side taking the mug from her hand and safely putting it on the counter.

"Jordan!"

"Yes?"

"You're here!"

"I do work here."

"But rarely this early!" Lily countered. When the surprise faded she gave her friend a considering stare. "You look awfully happy for this hour of the morning!"

"She got some last night," Nigel informed her nonchalantly as he poured coffee for himself since Lily seemed too busy to do so.

"Oh really? So how was he? On a scale of one to ten, one being, 'get out of my life', and ten being, 'mind blowing'?" she demanded.

"Lily!"

"What? I've offered to tell you how Garret is in bed, but you didn't want to know!"

Jordan looked repulsed at the very idea, Bug looked horrified, and while having an oddly curious look on his face, Nigel still rushed to assure her that they didn't need to know.

"Don't want to know what guys?" Woody asked sauntering into the room.

"How Garret and Agent Rabb compare on how great they are in bed scale," Lily responded before Jordan could stop her.

"Rabb? Why would he come up? He left town weeks ago," Woody questioned looking hurt.

"Oh, hadn't you heard? He's back in town?" Nigel told him.

Jordan groaned.

Bug snickered.

Nigel smirked.

Lily looked innocent.

And Woody looked even more hurt as he turned injured eyes on Jordan for an explanation.

"He just got back yesterday," she said defensively.

"So why were you discussing his bedroom prowess unless you're talking about before?"

Nigel started to share his news, "Oh she got…" but before he could finish Jordan stomped down hard on his foot effectively ending his comment, but not before Woody got the gist of it.

"I see," he muttered. "What brings him to town this time?"

Jordan knew that the reason Harm had given her would deepen the wounded look on Woody's face even more so she gave a partial answer "He's not with the CIA any longer and is assessing his options."

"He needed to do that here in Boston?"

"Well…" she hedged and was saved from further comment on the subject when Garret walked into the break room.

Garret snapped, "Lily coffee. Bug, Nigel, get to work. Woody, what are you doing here?"

"I came for Jordan's report on the bodies we found yesterday," Woody replied as the other two men scurried from the room.

"You expected her to be here at this hour?"

"No, that was a surprise. I figured I could get it from Nigel."

"I see. Do so then," Garret told him.

As Woody hurried from the room as well, Jordan cleared her throat and asked, "You're ignoring me?"

"No, I just assumed that you were a figment of my imagination," he told her while taking the mug of coffee Lily was handing him.

Lily snickered at the comment, but then saw the stern look on his face. She quickly excused herself and headed for her office.

"So why are you in on time?" Garret asked.

"Would you believe a different kind of alarm clock?" she replied jauntily.

"I don't care what it was, just make it a habit from now on!" he ordered as he spun on his heel and moved out of the room.

Jordan muttered, "If he stays I won't have a choice."

With a resigned sigh she made her way to the lab as soon as Garret was gone. She didn't want to face Woody with his hang-dog sad look or the endless questions she knew he would have. But, she also knew that he would simply track her down if she tried to avoid him.

What she couldn't figure out was why he was reacting so badly. Unless Lily could possibly be right and Woody was harboring some kind of feelings for her…nah! It was just too farfetched to be possible!

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Jordan was actually surprised when she arrived in the lab. Woody talked only to Nigel, ignoring the fact that she was even in the room. This didn't escape Nigel's notice and every chance he got, when Woody wasn't looking at him, he rolled his eyes and made a comical face at Jordan. She wanted to smack him up side the head, but knew that would bring unwanted interest from Woody. Instead she made her excuses as quickly as she could and headed back to her office to tackle some of the never ending stack of paperwork threatening to take over her desk.

The rest of the day flew by. She was actually able to make visible inroads on the mountain of files on her desk. Because Woody was hurt and wanted to avoid her, he left right after getting the info he needed from Nigel without stopping in to see her. Nigel and Bug were busy in the lab so she didn't see them at all and finally, Lily seemed to know her friend needed some space. The only time she poked her head into Jordan's office was to ask if she wanted to go to lunch with them at Joe's Deli down the street. Jordan turned her down because she had made plans with Harm for dinner that evening and wanted to get out of there as early as possible.

Usually Jordan was the last to leave the offices, the only other one of their group used to be Dr. Macy. But since he and Lily had started dating they had been leaving together. Tonight, however, Jordan was the first to head for the elevator. She felt a twinge of conscious when she saw the shocked look on the receptionist's face. As the elevator cut off the shocked stare Jordan reviewed her justification for her earlier than usual departure. She had been in on time, which was in itself a rare occurrence, and she had worked through her lunch hour.

Reaching her vehicle Jordan called Harm informing him that she was on her way home, believing that she would have plenty of time to get cleaned up, but when arriving at her apartment twenty minutes later she was very surprised to find him waiting for her. He had given her no indication of his intentions when they had spoken.

"Hi," he greeted her with a smile, his arms loaded down with grocery bags.

"Hi," she parroted, then raising her eyebrow, asked, "What's all this?" indicating the bags.

"I hope you don't mind, but I thought I would cook for you."

"Wow, that's great!" she answered, unlocking the door so they could both enter. "What are we having?"

"Well, my specialty is vegetarian lasagna, but that takes quite a bit of time so maybe I could do that this weekend. Tonight I thought I would make stir fry."

"Yum! If you're going to be feeding me like that, I might just have to marry you to keep you around!" she teased.

He stopped dead on his way to the kitchen and with a considering look on his face said, "You know, in the past a remark like that would normally have sent me running for the hills, but when you said it just now, it suddenly had a nice ring to it."

This time it was Jordan's turn to be stunned, "You're kidding, right?"

"Oddly enough, no," he told her as he put the groceries down on the counter and began to unload them. "I mean, I'm not in any hurry, mind you, but I could conceivably see us spending our futures together."

"Ummm," she hesitated.

"I didn't mean to paralyze you with fear. It just occurred to me and I said it. It's something we can talk about in the future."

"It wasn't fear," she insisted and then sighed, as she tried to be truthful with him. "Okay, maybe it was fear. I've never had a successful long term relationship before. I can't even contemplate me and marriage in the same thought!"

"Jordan, I was in the same boat before two minutes ago, but when I think of the future and you, all of a sudden marriage isn't such a scary word."

To be continued…


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Jordan sighed as she saw the sincerity in his eyes. Still afraid of how fast he seemed to be moving, she asked, "Will you give me time to catch up to where you are?"

"Of course I will," he smiled cockily at her, and then added with a laugh, "As long as you don't take too long."

He had been hoping to get a laugh from her, but settled for the strained smile that was all she could seem to manage instead. Giving her a gentle push he said, "Why don't you change out of your work clothes while I get dinner going?"

"Okay," she agreed and gave him another smile. This one was less forced than the last one.

"Hey, that smells really good," Jordan told him as she came into the kitchen after changing clothes. Peering into the pan on the stove she exclaimed, "There's shrimp in there! Aren't you planning on eating?"

"Actually I'm vegetarian for health rather than moral reasons so beef and pork are out. Occasionally I allow myself chicken and turkey. However, seafood is okay. And fish is actually good for you."

"Oh," was all she could say, and then with a grin, "I like most seafood except oysters, so that solves any eating issues that may have pop up."

"Have you ever tried octopus or squid?" he asked hiding his teasing grin by turning his head back to what he was cooking.

He could see Jordan's grimace reflected in the window above the sink as she tried to keep her distaste from her voice, but the gulp was audible at the end of her reply, "Ummm, no…"

"Neither have I…we should try them together sometime," he suggested repressing the desire to chuckle at her dismayed look.

"Not anytime in the foreseeable future," she muttered as she reached into the cupboard to get out dishes so she could set the table.

When she finished he asked, "Will you pour the wine I brought? The food will be ready in just a minute."

"Ooooh fancy," she commented with a grin.

"Only the best for you," he replied, bringing the steaming food to the table and then dishing it up.

"Darn right!" she teased with a light blush.

Once they were both seated and ready to eat, he asked, "Do you like sushi?"

"Only if it's cooked," she admitted sheepishly, and he laughed.

The stir fry was wonderful and she told him so several times over. As they finished eating, Harm poured them each more wine emptying the bottle as he did so. Jordan was surprised that they had drunk the entire bottle. However, when she stood up she was able to feel it in the slight wobbliness of her legs.

Harm chuckled at the startled look on her face and asked, "You okay there, kiddo?"

"Yeah. I just wasn't expecting the wine to hit me that hard," she answered.

"Well, if you can toddle over to the sofa, I was going to offer to rub your shoulders. You looked a bit tense when we started dinner."

"I might have been, but the wine seems to have taken care of that for me," she said as they reached the couch.

"Bad day at work?" he inquired solicitously.

Jordan sighed as he began to massage her shoulders and replied unthinkingly, "Oh, Woody was a bit put out with me."

"Why would that be?"

"He found out you were back in town and Nigel also felt the need to inform him that you and I had sex last night."

"How did Nigel find that out?"

Blushing, she told him, "I guess my happy face gave me away this morning. When I entered the break room they all guessed."

"I hope you weren't embarrassed."

"I didn't really care if they knew, but I was sorry Woody found out."

"That would be, because he has feelings for you, I'm guessing."

"He seems to think he does, however, I have a feeling that I'm just the first non-Wisconsin girl he met and because I'm new and different…at least I hope that's it, because that he can get over easier. If it's not, I don't want to be the one who ends up breaking his heart."

"Detective Hoyt is a grown man. He will have to learn to deal with emotional upsets and loss. If I have anything to say about it, he's lost his chance at getting you."

To be continued…


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Mmmmm," Jordan cooed, leaning back further in his arms. "The more you say things like that, the more I'm coming to like hearing them."

"Good, because I like saying them," he told her, holding her close.

She stretched up to give him a 'thank you' kiss for the massage and one kiss quickly led to another. Before many minutes had passed they were making love on the sofa. Afterwards, they watched a little television before adjourning to her bedroom. They made love again then fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning Harm once again made sure she got to work on time. The reaction from her co-workers seemed mixed. They weren't quite as shocked about her being there on time, but the fact that it happened two days in a row seemed to throw them.

When Macy saw her he simply said, "If this Rabb guy is going to have this effect on you, then maybe he's a good influence after all."

Saturday, Harm made his lasagna for her as he had promised and on Sunday they had dinner at her dad's bar.

Max told her he had been spending time with LaVon Trask since she and her daughter had returned from Viet Nam. She had taken her husband's remains to his home for a traditional burial. Max asked Jordan where Woody had been lately, but it was Harm that answered him rather than his daughter.

"I'm afraid he doesn't like me very much, so he hasn't been around."

"I see," Max replied. Jordan was grateful that he left it there.

The beginning of the next week started off just like the end of the last one. Harm would spend the night with her then make sure she got to work on time the next morning. Everyone but Woody was happy with the new arrangement. He did stop avoiding her as he had done that first day, but he was only around when work demanded it of him rather than every chance possible as he had been before. However, every time he was around, he never failed to make derogatory remarks about the unemployed ex-navy, ex-CIA agent that seemed to have no ambition to do anything but to get into Jordan Cavanaugh's pants.

Jordan found the only thing to do was to just ignore him when he started talking like that. Anytime she did anything else Woody only got worse.

Harm had been in town for a week and the two of them were out one night trying some authentic Mandarin food. However during the meal Jordan noticed that he was being more quiet than usual. She asked what he was thinking about, expecting it to be something about his career choices.

Instead he told her, "I've been thinking about getting an apartment. It doesn't make much sense to continue to stay in the hotel if I'm going to be staying here in town."

"So you've decided that you are going to stay then?" she questioned. Since he had not talked about them having a future together, since almost a week ago, when it had first been brought up, she had begun to wonder if he was regretting his words.

"I want to be where you are," he told her simply.

Jordan was surprised by the next words that came out of her mouth, but as he paused to consider them she found that she didn't regret them at all, "Then if you still are of the mind that we could have a future together, why don't we try living together? You could move into my place rather than renting another apartment. We have been spending every night together anyway."

After a moment or two, where he couldn't help but silently gloat at how well his plan was coming together, he smiled and said, "If you really mean that, I would love to. I think it's the perfect solution."

"I do," she answered.

His grin grew as he told her, "Those words sound good too."

Blushing, she replied, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Why don't we see how really living together goes first?"

"As you wish," was his response.

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The move went very smoothly. Harm didn't have much in the way of personal belongings to bring from the hotel. When Jordan commented on that fact, he explained that the Navy had taught him to travel light. She wondered about mementos and keep sakes, but he didn't seem comfortable with the subject so she let it drop.

She didn't tell anyone at work about his moving in. Whenever the group did socialize outside of work hours, it was at a public place like a restaurant or her dad's bar. She knew it would remain her secret until she chose to tell them. In the back of her mind she was thinking that if things didn't work out between her and Harm, she wouldn't have to face the 'I told you so-s'. Plus, she didn't want Woody to know, giving him more reason to be morose around her.

With two straight weeks of her being on time for work, it was actually becoming accepted as the norm rather than the exception and the comments about it had all but stopped.

During that week, she got a note in the mail from her Aunt Meredith, inviting her to Virginia for a wedding planning weekend. Jordan showed the note to Harm and he happily agreed to go with her. She wrote back to Meredith explaining that she would come, but rather than staying with her, she would book a room for the two days. She said in her note that she had a surprise for her Aunt.

That was about the same time that Harm started talking about sending out resume's and going on job interviews. She had no way of knowing that he was setting up his excuse for not going to Virginia with her in two weeks time.

There was one other thing he did during that week which was all part of his master plan to destroy Harmon Rabb Junior's life as much as possible. But that maneuver would not reveal itself for a while yet.

The living together arrangement was going much better than Jordan could have hoped. It was only a few days before the trip to Virginia and she was seriously considering making the announcement that Harm had moved in with her when they returned from Boston.

On the Thursday before they were to leave town, Woody came into the office looking happier than she had seen him in weeks. "Hey Jordan," he greeted her with a beaming smile.

"What has you so chipper?" she asked; glad to see this change in his attitude.

"I was at the Ralston hotel last night to question a witness and thought that while I was there I would talk to Rabb and see how long he was intending on hanging around. They told me he had checked out, leaving no forwarding address. Why didn't you say he'd left town?"

Lily had overheard the question and said, "He hasn't, unless he did it after dinner. Last night we saw him at Max's place when we all were there."

Both pairs of eyes turned to Jordan for an explanation to the facts presented and she sighed before admitting, "I was going to tell everyone when we came back from visiting my Aunt Merry, but Harm has moved in with me."

"When did this happen?" Lily asked eagerly, as Woody's smile fell as he brought down an almost visible shield to hide his feelings.

"Over a week ago," Jordan reluctantly told her.

"Wow! That's great!" Lily cheered before she realized that her enthusiasm wasn't shared by Woody. Quickly telling Jordan that they could talk about it later, she made her escape down the hall to her office.

"So it's serious between the two of you?" Woody asked when they were alone.

Hanging her head and keeping her eyes on her own feet so she wouldn't have to see his reaction, she answered, "Yeah. I wanted to wait until I was sure myself. Since things are working out even better than I had hoped, I guess we have a future together. I'm sorry, Woody, I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but there it is."

She was surprised when after a minute he hadn't said anything. Looking up to see what was going on; she found herself alone in the hall. Her eyes flew down the hall just in time to see the elevator doors close, hiding his sad face from her view.

To be continued…


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Friday morning Jordan got up to find Harm animatedly talking on his cell phone. He had gone into the other room so as not to disturb her. He snapped the phone shut as she entered the room. He seemed very upset.

"Harm, what's going on?" she asked in concern.

"I am SO sorry, Jordan, but I'm not going to be able to go to Virginia with you."

"Oh no! Why?"

"There is this Japanese firm that I have been communicating with via emails. Their CEO wants to meet with me. The only free time he has in the next month is tomorrow! He's flying here just to see me."

Trying to be fair even though she was feeling very disappointed, she told him, "Hey, if this is something that you feel is important then so do I! I'll only be gone two days and although I would love for you to go with me, I want what's best for your future too!"

"Thank you for being so understanding, Jordan. I don't like this either, I was looking forward to this trip," he lied.

"I know you were, but there will be other chances for us to go together. There will be the shower and the wedding itself. See, there are at least two more trips we can make!"

"Yes," he sighed, and then looking at his watch said, "You'd better get moving now so you're not late for work."

"Okay. Will you drive me to the airport tonight?" she asked while heading back to the bedroom to get ready.

"Of course I will," he promised.

Jordan knew her co-workers had come to accept that she seemed to be in her first steady relationship since they had known her, but also knew that if word got to Woody, about Harm not going to Virginia with her, he would have new fuel to the fire of his ongoing litany against him. For this reason she never mentioned Harm's change of plans at work. So, when she left that evening to catch her flight amid wishes for a safe trip and fun time, no one knew she would be traveling alone.

Harm drove her to the airport as promised and faithfully swore to be there to pick her up Sunday night when she returned. Jordan wished him good luck with his job interview then kissed him good-bye before hurrying through the boarding gate.

Aunt Merry had offered to pick her up when she landed, but at the time Jordan had thought Harm would be with her. She had wanted to surprise Meredith so had said she would get a cab and meet her and her fiancé, Admiral Chegwidden, at the hotel bar for a night cap.

Jordan was now regretting that decision as she moved through the airport alone. Glad she had managed to get everything she would need for the two days in a duffle she could carry on to the plane, she was able to skip waiting on the baggage to be available. However, the cab ride to the hotel was also lonely. It was hard to believe how someone as independent as she had always been, had gotten used to having someone else with her. Now the once 'loner girl' was lonely because Harm wasn't with her.

Her loneliness was the reason that she changed her mind halfway to the hotel. Pulling out the envelope with her Aunt's address on it, she told the driver to change destinations.

Jordan didn't even think about the idea of Meredith not being home until she had dismissed the cab and pushed the elevator button for her Aunt's floor.

She was happy when in response to her knock she heard her Aunt's voice saying, "AJ, you're early!" as the door opened.

"Sorry, Aunt Merry, it's only me."

"Jordie! Come in! What are you doing here? I thought AJ and I were to meet you at the hotel later for drinks? Did I get it wrong? Because that is what I told AJ and he will be put out with me and think me ditzy if…"

"No, Aunt Merry," Jordan interrupted her. "That was the plan, but things changed because my…surprise couldn't come with me. So I was hoping that you wouldn't mind if I stayed with you after all, instead of the hotel?"

To be continued…


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Of course you can stay here! I would love that! Now tell me all about this surprise…since you said he couldn't come with you I am hoping it is…was a man. Oh! Is it that nice Detective Hoyt? He was certainly sweet on you. If you hadn't been so wrapped up in Commander Rabb when AJ and I were there, I'm sure you would have noticed too."

Jordan sighed as her Aunt babbled on and on. She dropped her duffle bag by the door and took a moment to look around the room hoping Meredith would wind down some time soon.

When she finally took a breath, Jordan took the opportunity to jump in, "No Aunt Merry, the surprise wasn't Woody! I know he thinks he has feelings for me, but I just don't see him that way."

"Well then, who was it you were going to bring with you? I mean if the relationship is serious enough for you to be bringing him to meet me, then it can't be something new! You wouldn't have had time to get to know someone well enough to be traveling with them although you did seem to jump into bed with Harm rather quickly if I remember right!"

Jordan was about to interrupt her Aunt again with a protest that she was old enough to decide when she'd known a man long enough to have sex with him, but before she could do so there was a knock on the door.

"Now that will be AJ," Meredith declared looking at her watch. "He's right on the dot! It's exactly eight o'clock, or some hundreds in military time. AJ is always on time, he prides himself on it," she told Jordan as she opened the door. And sure enough, Admiral AJ Chegwidden stood there with his hand poised to knock again.

"AJ, darling! Look who's here! Jordan surprised me by just showing up on my doorstep. At first I thought it was you when she got here, but I should have known better because that would have meant you were early and you're never early! Now that's not to say that you're late because I know you never are! You're always right on time, just like you were tonight! But now that we're all here together what shall we do? Should we still go to Jordan's hotel for drinks?"

Both Jordan and AJ looked just a little dazed from Meredith's long winded speech, although both of them should have been used to them by now. Jordan was the first to answer, "That was the reason I was asking if I could stay with you Aunt Merry. I was going to cancel my hotel reservation if you would have me here."

"Of course, silly me! Why don't you do that and then we can decide where we would like to go instead."

"Benzinger's or McMurphy's are both good places and not too far away, if you want to turn in early after your flight," AJ suggested.

"Oh the flight was fine," Jordan responded. "But I'm sure tomorrow is going to be very full with all the planning, so an early night wouldn't be a bad idea."

Jordan made a quick call and then they were off to Benzinger's.

The hour they spent there was full of talk about the upcoming wedding and when AJ dropped the ladies off at Meredith's apartment he still didn't know that Harmon Rabb had been living with Jordan in Boston, and neither did her Aunt.

Without Harm in bed next to her she was right back to her old habit of hitting the snooze button. After several times on her travel clock it was Meredith's knock on the door telling her that 'if she wanted a shower before Sarah got there, she'd better hurry', finally got her moving.

Jordan had just poured a cup of coffee after a fast shower when a knock at the door announced Sarah Mackenzie's arrival.

The plan was for the three of them to have brunch and then dive into a day full of shower and wedding plans. Jordan, knowing her Aunt's cooking, was planning to offer to take everyone out for dinner that night because she knew she would be hungry from avoiding the food at the brunch. She was thrilled to see that Sarah had brought bagels and an assortment of cream cheeses with her!

"Oh you didn't have to do that!" Meredith exclaimed when she saw Sarah's offering.

To be continued…


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Having tasted Meredith's cooking several times during the years of their friendship was what had prompted Mac's gesture. However, she didn't want to hurt Meredith's feelings, so apologized, "Sorry, Meredith, I was just feeling very hungry this morning and didn't know if you'd planned for feeding a practically starving Marine."

"Oh, that's okay, Sarah. I took the easy way out today and got a fruit and cheese platter from the grocery store as well as some croissants from this little bakery I know."

Jordan and Sarah shared grins as they both loaded their plates with the 'safe' food.

The plans were going very well thanks to Meredith's decisive decision making on the various wedding details. It was during a break when they got up for more food and coffee, that Jordan had a chance to ask Sarah about her life, "So what about you? We've been talking about Aunt Merry's plans, but nothing about you. Are you involved with anyone special?"

"Well… I guess so; although he's more absent then around. He works for the State Department and is often out of town on assignments."

Jordan's eyebrows rose while raising her hands making quotes as she replied, "Yeah, the 'State Department'." Thinking of the line that Harm told her to tell anyone who would asks what he did gave Mac a wink, commented, "That wouldn't be the same department that Harm worked for, would it?" When Mac gave her an imperceptibly nod, she speculated, "I wonder if he knows Harm?"

"Harm? Do you mean Harmon Rabb Jr.?" Mac asked.

"She most certainly does," Meredith piped in. "Jordan had a fling with Harm while AJ and I were in Boston."

"It wasn't a 'fling', Aunt Merry!" Jordan protested.

"Well, what would you call it then? The two of you were certainly having 'carnal knowledge' of each other!"

"Yes, Aunt Merry, we did have sex with each other while Harm was in town," Jordan admitted as Mac's gaze flew back and forth between the two of them as if she were watching a tennis match.

"What else would you refer to something like that which only lasted a few days and then he was gone from your life?" Meredith demanded.

"I guess I might have called it that, but it didn't last just a few days and besides, he came back!" Jordan declared triumphantly.

"He came back?" Mac and Meredith gasped in unison.

"Yes, he came back," Jordan assured them.

"When did that happen?"

"How long did he stay?"

The questions came at her from both of her listeners. "It was a couple of weeks ago and he hasn't left. In fact he's moved in with me."

Meredith stood there in shocked silence while Mac's mind was going a mile a minute. She wondered what Harm was up to, or how serious he could really be. Even though she hadn't seen him lately, she knew that he still had his apartment here locally. She had been by there a couple of times to see if he was home as well as leaving messages on his apartment answering machine rather than his cell phone. So even if he was living with Jordan in Boston, he was keeping his place here as a possible exit strategy.

Finally it was Meredith that broke the silence, "Jordan, why didn't you tell me this before?"

"That was going to be my surprise, Aunt Merry! Harm was going to come with me and we were going to tell you together. But at the last minute he got a really important job interview and had to stay in town."

"But why not tell me last night?" she wanted to know.

"I tried to, but kept getting inter…side tracked and then when we were out with AJ, the conversation turned to the wedding. Anyway, it's out now and I hope that you can be happy for me."

Hearing Jordan comment on getting 'side tracked', Mac nearly choked of her coffee. Meredith asked if she were okay. Nodding her head she replied while glancing quickly to Jordan, "It went down the wrong tube." She knew of Meredith's consent ramblings having experienced them herself.

Turning back to Jordan, Meredith stated, "Well I always liked Harm, but he's become awful flighty lately. What do you think, Sarah?"

Mac considered her words before speaking, but felt she should give Jordan the truth. "Harm has never been known for, steady, or long term relationships. I think you should be cautious."

"Actually, we are very alike in that respect and have talked at length about it. We both feel that this time it's going to last and that we can have a future together. Who knows, Aunt Merry, one day I might be having you come to Boston for our wedding!"

To be continued…


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Oh, Jordan, that would be marvelous!" Meredith gushed.

Trying to smile through her doubt, Mac stated, "I hope that you'll invite me too, when that time comes."

"Of course we will!" Jordan assured her.

Even though Meredith was fascinated with her niece's love life, she knew that there was a lot to be done in the little time that Jordan was there. So, guided the younger women back to the task at hand. They ended up ordering pizza to be delivered for dinner that way they could continue working instead of going out and losing valuable time. It was still after ten when Mac finally headed home, promising faithfully, to be at the dress shop at nine the next morning for the dress fittings.

On Sunday Mac and Jordan were both happy with the dresses they would be wearing for the wedding. Their fittings went well although both of them would have to wait for the alterations on the hem of the dress to be finished until they purchased shoes for the event.

Jordan waited until Meredith went into the dressing room to put on her gown to explain to Sarah that they had AJ to thank for not looking like parade floats. She told her how he had influenced his fiancé's choice by mentioning his fashion reporter daughter's advice. Mac smiled saying she would be sure to thank the Admiral the next day at work.

Meredith's fitting went badly. She didn't seem pleased with any of the changes the seamstress had made since her first fitting. A very vocal argument ensued when Meredith insisted that the woman change back an alteration the seamstress had advised against in the first place.

The store manager was called in and after reminding his employee that the customer was always right, Meredith was finally placated. The change would be made and she would return for another fitting to see that it had been done to her specifications in a week.

The three of them went out for a late lunch before Mac excused herself for the rest of the day, explaining that she had some work that she just had to get done for the next day or her boss would be very upset if she wasn't ready for the trial that was going to take place. The other two women laughed, as they were meant to, because they all knew that AJ Chegwidden was a teddy bear in his off duty life, but that definitely did not carry over into his military one!

Meredith spent the last few hours before Jordan's flight home pumping her niece for information on her relationship with Harm. She was more than happy to talk about how well things were going and assuring Meredith that if, and when, he did propose she would be among the first to know.

During the two days that Jordan had been in Virginia, Clark Palmer had kept himself very busy. For the past few weeks he had been putting together the odds and ends of this little aspect of his grand scheme ever since she had questioned him about the keepsakes he didn't have with him when he moved in with her. He had rented a storage unit under another name and began to gather 'Rabb keepsakes'.

He had discovered that a flea-market was a great place to collect some of these items. The best discovery was some old picture frames. A day trip to Virginia to do a little breaking and entering, while the real Harm was busy with his crop dusting, allowed him to copy all of the pictures his nemesis owned. It was so nice that there were photograph copiers that were so small and portable these days. It made making copies so quick and easy. At a military surplus store, he was able to purchase all of the medals and ribbons that Commander Rabb had been awarded in his career, as well as a case to keep them in.

The guitar he purchased at a music store on the trip back to Boston was the same model as the one Harm owned. Palmer had even taken some lessons from a woman that lived an hour out of Boston, so if Jordan ever asked him to play it he could do more than just strum his fingers over the strings.

In the storage unit he boxed everything up, taped and labeled them, and then on the Saturday afternoon while Jordan was in Virginia, he paid the final bill on the space. He hauled the boxes to the apartment leaving them in the middle of the living room floor for her arrival home.

To be continued…


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

They had a touching reunion in the terminal lobby. As eager as Jordan was to hear how his job interview went, it was difficult to talk while moving through the busy airport. However, once they were in the car, Harm began a series of questions about her trip. He seemed to want to know even the smallest detail of how things went. She was still giving him the details when they walked through the apartment door and she spotted all the boxes in the middle of the room.

"What's all this?" she asked interrupting her story of the scene Meredith had caused at the dress shop.

"I sent for the things I had in storage, I hope you don't mind if I try and find places around here for some of my things?"

"Oh, Harm! That's wonderful! I want you to feel like this is your home too. This is great! Can we unpack them together? I'd like you to tell me about each item."

"I'd love that, Jordan, but why don't we wait until you get off work tomorrow to do it? It's late and I was hoping to give you a special welcome home," he told her with a sexy wink.

"Mmmmm, I'd like that," she answered dropping her duffle and moving into his arms. "But I'd really like to hear what happened with your interview too."

Harm sighed and shook his head, "They did offer me the job, but it would require six months a year in Japan and I don't want to be away from you for that length of time. I turned them down."

"Oh, Harm! I'm sorry! I know you were excited about it or you wouldn't have missed our trip to stay for the interview. Are you sure you want to pass up the chance at this job? We could find a way to make it work."

"Jordan I have a healthy savings account and am sure another opportunity will come up. But in the meantime I did find some part time work while you were gone."

"You did?" she asked excitedly. "That's great, what is it?"

"Well I dropped in to your dad's bar after the interview for a drink. He was crazy busy so told me to go ahead and serve myself. While I was behind the bar I figured I'd save him some time and refill a couple of guys that needed it. Before I finished, he got an order up from the kitchen and while he was taking that out to the table, two women came in and ordered drinks from me. I had them served before Max was done and he offered me a job!" He grinned at her shocked expression and added, "It's only on Friday and Saturday nights, but after talking to him as we closed up that night I might convince him to give me another night or two. He's been out to lunch with LaVon Trask a couple of times, but hasn't taken her to dinner yet. When he feels I can handle the place on my own, I might be able to get him to let me take over for him so he can ask her out."

"Harm…a bartender? Really?"

"Not as a new profession, Jordan. It's just to help your dad out. I thought you would be happy he and I were getting to know each other better."

"I am, but I guess I just thought that bartending was a big come down from lawyer or CIA agent."

"I wouldn't let your dad hear you say that…"

"But he owns the place and is retired!"

"Well I won't do it if you don't want me to, Jordan. I just meant to help out."

"No! I didn't mean that! Please, if you want to do it, then I am all for it! Really!"

"If you're sure…" he was still a bit leery about her response.

"I am! I like the idea of you and dad getting to know each other, and you say he's started dating?"

"Not officially, but I think he's leading up to it. How do you feel about that?"

"I think it's great! It's about time he had someone in his life! LaVon seemed like a very nice woman. I hope it works out for them. At least I know dad will be better to her than her last husband was!"

"Now that's all settled, why don't we head to bed?" he asked with a lecherous grin.

"Yes, I believe you promised me a special welcome home…"

"That I did," he agreed taking her hand and leading her into the other room.

To be continued…


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Jordan left for work the next morning a very satisfied woman! Once there, the only one interested in how her trip had gone was Lily. She wanted to hear about everything in detail, sighing at every scrap of information she could pull out of Jordan. It was pretty clear that Lily was dreaming of a wedding in her own future.

Concerned for her friend, Jordan wondered what would come of that. With the very messy break up of his marriage, Jordan was fairly sure that Garrett wasn't planning on taking the plunge again any time soon. As for herself, all she knew was that if she and Harm ever did get married, she wanted nothing to do with a big fancy wedding like her Aunt Merry was planning. She was especially glad Harm was no longer in the Navy because although it made Meredith giggle like a schoolgirl every time she mentioned it, if any one tried to swat her ass with a sword she would turn around and deck them!

Jordan was actually glad when a call came from Woody to meet him at a crime scene. She then had a legitimate excuse to get away from Lily's unending questions.

That night she and Harm unpacked his boxes as he told her stories about every item they pulled out. While sharing a pizza, they found places around the apartment for all of his treasured possessions. She even managed to talk him in to playing a couple of songs on his guitar.

The next month flew by with hardly a care at all. Harm still hadn't found a job that he wanted. However, he was continuing to help her father at the bar on the weekends. He also picked up one or two nights a week as Max and LaVon started going out more. So with Thanksgiving only a week away the only concern Jordan had was Harm's apparent ambivalence about finding real work. That was, until the morning she woke up and as she started to stand up, was overcome with the need to rush to the bathroom and expel the remnants of dinner from the night before.

Harm's concern for her was genuine when she emerged from the bathroom after brushing her teeth. With her hand resting on her still churning tummy she ruefully told him that she either had a touch of food poisoning or might need to run a pregnancy test on herself. "But since we both had the same thing to eat last night…"

She was surprised at the lack of accusation in his voice when he said, "I thought you were on the pill."

"I am, but it isn't one hundred percent effective. I might be one of the exceptions. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though, I'll run the test when I get to work and let you know the results as soon as I get them. No need to panic until we know for sure."

"Jordan," he said and paused. Taking her in his arms, he continued, "I don't know that a baby is a reason to panic. I know we haven't brought it up since I first mentioned it, but I do think we have a future together. Maybe this is just the universes way of letting us know it's time to move to the next level of our relationship."

"You really wouldn't be upset if I'm pregnant?" she questioned.

"Not at all, I think we'd be putting the cart before the horse, but I think having a baby with you would be wonderful."

"Wow, I had no idea you were thinking along those lines!"

"I know. I didn't say anything because the last time I did it seemed to freak you out a bit. However, if you are pregnant, I'd like us to get married. I'm a bit of a traditionalist like that."

"You and my father!" she laughed. "But I would like that too, on one condition!"

"What's that?"

"I don't want anything nearly as elaborate as what my Aunt Merry is planning! She's not getting married until May and is already driving herself crazy with preparations. I would just as soon run off to a Justice of the Peace as do something like she is!"

"That is fine with me! As long as you are my wife before little Harmon Rabb the third arrives, I don't care how it happens."

"What if little Harmon Rabb the third turns out to be a girl?" she laughed.

"Then we will have to try again!" he laughed back.

To be continued…


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Jordan headed off to work with a light heart. She had been so worried about Harm's reaction while she had been puking her guts out. He had truly surprised her with his easy acceptance of her possible condition.

As it turned out, Jordan was pregnant, so she and Harm made plans that weekend to go up to Atlantic City and get married quickly and quietly.

Meanwhile, back in Virginia, the real Harmon Rabb had returned to work at JAG. He didn't face the wrath of an irate Aunt however. Two weeks before his return, Meredith Cavanaugh had left for Spain to teach a series of Shakespeare classes at the request of a Professor friend of hers. The only odd comment he got about his time away was from Mac who had sniped that he certainly had been busy during his absence. Harm just assumed she had heard about his crop dusting and involvement with Mattie, so just gave her a twisted smile and ignored it.

During the week Jordan and the fake Harm were planning their elopement, Nigel made a visit to Clara Rose for his weekly tarot reading. Clara mentioned Nigel's co-workers a time or two in the readings she did for him and to date they had always been right on the money. For example, she had foreseen a big fight between Garrett and Lily. Then the following week predicted they would make up two days before it happened.

Clara had also made it known early on when Nigel had told her that Harm had moved in with Jordan, she believed that nice Detective Hoyt was really the one Jordan should be with. Therefore, when Clara told Nigel that Jordan would marry the wrong man, even though he had no idea she was contemplating marriage, Nigel guessed that Clara meant that Jordan should be marrying Woody and not Harm when the time came. He patted Clara's hand and told her that he would pass along the message with no real intention of doing so. He knew the world of hurt he would be in if he tried to give that kind of message to Jordan!

So after work on Friday, Jordan and Harm loaded up her car with their overnight bags and drove to Atlantic City to get married. They were back in town to have dinner with her father on Sunday night and tell him the news. Only about the elopement though, they decided to wait a few days and make the baby announcement at Thanksgiving Day dinner. They thought one big surprise at a time might be all her dad could handle.

Max and Harm had become friends since the younger man started helping out at the bar and Max could see how happy his daughter was with Harm. He was glad to welcome his new son-in-law into the family.

At work on Monday, Jordan made the announcement about the wedding. Lily's squeals of delight drowned out the congratulations from the rest of the group. Once their morning coffee gathering was over, Lily trailed after Jordan intent on getting every detail of what, where, and why they had eloped. When she finally had all the information that she could get from Jordan, Lily had only one question left to ask before she was done. "When are you going to tell Woody?"

"I don't know, Lily. He's finally starting to act normally around me again and I would really hate to lose that."

"So, you're not going to tell him?" Lily gasped.

"No, I know I have to, I just don't know when or how would be the best."

Hesitantly Lily offered, "I could tell him for you, if you want."

"No, I need to do it. I just need to find the right time," she sighed.

Almost as if it were on cue, her phone rang. Exchanging a look with Lily, she picked it up and heard Woody's voice on the other end.

Early that morning a road crew had started tearing up a section of highway with plans to widen it from two to four lanes. The crew had unearthed what looked like parts of a skeleton and had called Boston PD. The first officer on the scene had observed that rather than parts of one skeleton, there were three skulls visible in the upturned earth. The area had been roped off and the search had begun for the rest of the bones. At last count, Woody told her, they had uncovered remnants of at least fourteen bodies and they were very afraid that the count would continue climb. Woody wanted the entire ME crew on sight. The situation could take weeks or more to sort out.

To be continued…


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

As the excavation of the site entered its second day, the body count had risen to eighty one discovered under nearly one quarter mile of the roadway. Garrett informed his team of something they had already known. They would be working through the holiday weekend and everyone could expect to be clocking a LOT of overtime on this one.

That was how a very overworked, constantly tired, newlywed, expectant mother managed to forget to tell her Aunt Merry that she had gotten married. She and Harm did manage to have dinner at her dad's bar one evening that weekend and as Jordan fought to stay awake over her burger and fries, they told Max he was going to become a grandfather.

On Woody's part, he found out about the marriage on his own. Because they were spending hours of every day together on the case, somewhere during the third day when they were at the lab waiting on some of the ID's to come in, he noticed her wedding ring on her hand. Jordan admitted it was true, but was honestly too exhausted to notice or care if there was a change in Woody's behavior towards her about the news.

Because of the extremely long hours everyone was putting in it was hard to hide her bouts of morning sickness from her co-workers. Lily quickly guessed the cause of her frequent dashes to the rest room. Her excitement at this discovery knew no bounds and Jordan had a nearly impossible task to keep her friend from running down the halls making the announcement.

But the news did eventually come out. With all the extra hours Woody was spending in their offices on the mass graveyard case and the fact that Jordan's morning sickness hit her at all hours of the day and night, he did find out. Woody's investigation had led to the discovery of the mob using that stretch of land to bury their 'hits' there long before the road covered what they had put under the ground. The stretch of land had covered bodies as new as 1986, when the road had been put in, and as old as the 1950's! The eighty one bodies spanned over thirty five years!

By the time the last set of remains had been identified and the case was officially put to rest, Christmas had come and gone. Everyone was glad that at last the work load would lighten up and they could all have some well deserved time off.

It was in mid-January and Boston was buried under a heavy blanket of snow. Jordan hated the cold, but at least her morning sickness had subsided somewhat. She only now reacted badly to the smell of raw sea food. It was during that time she had her first ultra sound done. She and Harm had decided that they would be happy to know the sex of the baby before hand so they could better plan the nursery and clothes for the baby. It seemed that their little off spring was happy to oblige his parent's wishes. Little Harmon Rabb the third proudly flashed himself to the camera as mom and dad started at the monitor. They were expecting a boy!

As Lily started talking about having a baby shower for her, Jordan was planning a second trip to Virginia. At the end of the month there was Aunt Merry's bridal shower and her niece had several surprises for her Aunt. Harm was eagerly looking forward to making the time too.

Several days before the trip, Jordan discovered that her favorite pair of jeans no longer fit her. From the research she had done on pregnancy she had been expecting it to be several more weeks before she needed to worry about this. The information had said most women didn't start showing until some time in their fourth month, but she was only fifteen weeks along.

Harm found her reaction to this dilemma amusing in the extreme. As the search for something to wear to work that day turned up four more pairs of pants that didn't fit Jordan became even more irritated with each discovery. Harm couldn't keep his laughter at bay as he graciously offered to loan her some of his jeans until she could go shopping.

To be continued…


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Throwing Harm a dirty look she pulled out a pair of sweat pants and stalked into the bathroom to make sure they would still fit her without the humiliation of his witnessing if they didn't. Luckily, the stretchy material and elastic waistband was forgiving of her new size.

As she stomped out of the apartment she mentally prepared pithy comments for anyone at work that commented on her even more casual than usual attire.

Jordan was halfway to the office when Woody's call came in that a body had been found. She was happy to divert her arrival time by heading to the scene.

When she finally did get to work, the body was just arriving and everyone was busy with the standard tests that needed to be run. No one had time to comment on her clothes until they took a break for lunch.

They had all ordered food from a nearby Chinese restaurant that delivered. As everyone gathered around the table, Lily was the one that started talking about Jordan's 'baby bulge'. Her eyes took on a dreamy look as she spoke. Garret was uncomfortable when she asked if Jordan would show her. It was pretty clear he and Lily were not on the same page in their relationship.

Jordan had no trouble turning down Lily's request much to the relief of the males in the room. She didn't want to show off her weight gain any more than they wanted to see it.

After work she and Harm went to the mall to pick up some larger clothes for her. She absolutely refused to purchase maternity clothes yet, claiming that she would need the larger clothes again after the baby was born until she could fit back into her regular size.

During those last few days before the trip, he had known the day was approaching ever since the bridal shower had been set. Everything was in place and his task was almost complete. Playing house with Jordan had been fun even though wearing Rabb's face for so long had gotten tiresome. He had never held a false identity for this long before and the challenge had been exhilarating. The day to day living might have become a bit dull, but sex with Jordan had been adequate compensation.

The best part of the grand deception was how thoroughly he was going to screw up Harmon Rabb Junior's life. His only real regret was that he wouldn't be there to see the chaos that was about to ensue. He had thought about donning another disguise just so he could be there to witness the train wreck that was coming. Ultimately he was smarter than that and knew his chances of being caught would go up exponentially if he was right there.

Palmer knew that Commander Rabb was back at JAG because of the close tabs he had been keeping on the real Harm. He had also planned Jordan's arrival in Virginia to cause the biggest scene possible. Telling Jordan that he wanted to walk into JAG Headquarters with her on his arm so they could surprise all of his ex-co-workers, he had convinced her to tell her Aunt that she would get a cab from the airport and meet Meredith at AJ's office for lunch on Friday.

Jordan had no way of knowing that her husband never intended to make the trip with her when he persuaded her to keep their joint arrival a secret.

Thursday night Meredith returned home from her trip to Spain. She and AJ were so glad to be together again that they decided to skip the plans they had made to go out to dinner. Instead they headed right to her apartment from the airport. He spent the night 'welcoming her home' with only a short break to refuel when the pizza they ordered arrived. He was glad that the next morning he could just leave from her place. He kept an extra uniform at the office so he didn't have to make the long drive to McLean and back again for a change of clothes.

It was bright and cold on Friday when the alarm went off. One of those days you just hate to get out of a warm bed. Both Harm and Jordan were glad they had their bags packed and sitting by the door ready to leave for the airport. The two hour flight would leave at 9:30 giving them plenty of time to grab a cab and meet Meredith and AJ at JAG for lunch.

To be continued…


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The two of them were having a quick breakfast when Harm's cell phone rang. When he heard the caller's voice his face filled with concern. "What is it, Frank?" he asked, and then in an aside to answer the question in Jordan's eyes, he told her, "It's my step-father."

"What? WHEN?" was the response to whatever Frank had told him.

"I was just about on my way to the airport when you called, so I can leave as soon as I can get a flight."

"No, not to come to San Diego, Jordan and I were going to Virginia for her Aunt's bridal shower, but that's not important right now. I'll explain that when I get there."

Hearing only one side of the conversation Jordan still knew two things. Something was going on in California, and Harm wouldn't be going to Virginia with her.

"I'll make sure she gets off safely and then will catch the first flight I can to San Diego," Harm's words confirmed her thoughts. "I'll call as soon as I know when I'll be there."

He hung up and with a worried look told Jordan, "Darling, I'm so sorry, but I can't go with you again."

"I gathered that, Harm. What's going on?" she asked, reaching out to take his hand in hers.

"My mother has had a heart attack, and was rushed to the hospital."

"Oh no! Harm, that's awful! Listen, I can skip the shower and we can both go to California," she offered.

"No, you've worked too long and hard to plan it and you should go. If it looks bad, I'll call you and you can fly out as soon as the shower is over."

"I know Aunt Merry would be disappointed if I couldn't be there, but I am sure she would understand, and Sarah can handle things without me. I should be there with you to help out!"

"Jordan, that's really sweet, but I don't know what situation I'll find when I get there. Mom and Frank don't know about us yet and I'm not sure a shock like that on top of a heart attack is such a great idea. Give me a chance to see how she is and I will prepare them for you if the situation allows. Then you could fly to California after the shower. Okay?"

"Well, if you really think that's best…I know how much this means to Aunt Merry, but I want to support you too…"

"I know and I love you for that. You go to Virginia and tell everyone our news. Tomorrow night you can meet me in California. Okay?"

"All right," she conceded.

Jordan put the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher and turned it on while Harm quickly tossed a few more clothes in his bag, then they headed to the airport.

Assuring him that she was perfectly capable of checking in on her own, Jordan urged him to find out the first flight he could get to San Diego.

Harm caught up with her after she had her boarding pass and told her that his flight would leave in about ninety minutes. He promised to call her as soon as he got there and had any kind of news at all, and swore that if he needed her he would tell her to come. Jordan kissed him as her flight was called and headed down the hall with a sad wave.

She fretted the entire flight and had to make several trips to the tiny bathroom on the plane first to empty her stomach of the breakfast she'd had and then after that so the other passengers wouldn't have to listen to her dry heaves. A sympathetic flight attendant offered to bring her some club soda to settle her stomach and that seemed to help. However, it didn't relieve the worry for Harm's mother that Jordan couldn't shake.

By the time she landed, Jordan was regretting that she was meeting Meredith and AJ for lunch. She was sure that with her stomach as upset as it was that she wouldn't be able to eat a bite.

To be continued…


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Meredith Cavanaugh was right on time for her lunch date with her fiancé and her niece. One of which was already there waiting for her, and the other had not yet arrived. "AJ, I was heading up the beltway to get here and most of the way there was no cell phone reception. I was wondering if you had heard from Jordan yet?"

"No, Meredith, I haven't. Why wouldn't she call you first?" Admiral AJ Chegwidden asked his finance.

"Because I just told you that I couldn't get a signal almost the whole way here!" Looking at her watch Meredith declared, "Her plane should have landed by now and a cab from the airport shouldn't take this long to get here. I wonder where she could be?"

"I'm sure that she is fine, Meredith," AJ assured her. "She is a grown woman and knows how to take care of herself."

"Is that me you are talking about, future Uncle AJ?" a lilting voice asked coming across the bullpen from the elevators.

Meredith swung around to find her niece crossing the room. "Jordan!" she exclaimed holding out her arms for an enthusiastic hug.

"Hi, Aunt Merry!" Jordan said with a chuckle as she let herself be wrapped in her Aunt's arms.

With Jordan in her arms, Meredith was facing the elevators so she saw Commander Harmon Rabb and Lieutenant Bud Roberts get off and start into the bullpen. "Harm?" Meredith said with both question and surprise in her voice.

Jordan thinking that she was being asked where he was, answered, "Yes, he was going to come here with me, but his mom had a heart attack so he's on his way to California."

"Then he shouldn't be here," Meredith stated, her eyes still focused on the man in question.

"No, I know that. I told him it was okay that he go and I would join him after your shower if he needs me."

"But…"

Before the thought could be finished, Harm had noticed Jordan standing across the room with her Aunt and had come over to say hello. Putting his hand on her should, since her back was to him, he said, "Hey, Jordan, long time no see!"

With a startled jump, Jordan spun around at the sound of his voice and saw her husband standing there when he should be on his way to California. That he was there was enough of a shock, but that he was in uniform was confusing in the extreme. But her main concern was for his mother! "Harm! What are you doing here?"

"I just got back," he told her.

"But your mother!"

"My mother?"

Looking at him oddly she said, "Yes…"

"What about her?" he questioned, looking confused.

"Her heart attack?"

"My mother had a heart attack? How do you know?" he demanded, pulling out his cell phone intending to call California and clear up the matter.

"You told me!" she insisted.

"I told you no such thing?"

"Yes you did! This morning before we left Boston!" she practically shouted.

"I haven't been in Boston since the last time I saw you!" he claimed.

"Yes! That was three hours ago!"

"What are you talking about? It was more like four and a half months ago!" he announced.

At this point, Bud stepped forward, trying to be helpful and said apologetically, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but Commander Rabb was in court with me all morning."

"Stay out of this! It's between me and my husband!"

Harm's jaw dropped open before he shouted, "Husband! I've never been a husband!"

Bud, helpful as ever, corrected him, "Well, except for that time when…"

"Hold it!" Admiral Chegwidden's voice rang out. All the military personal snapped to attention and all movement stopped. AJ pointing to Harm, Jordan, and Meredith said, "You, you, and you, in my office!"

To be continued…


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

As the four moved into AJ's office, Harriet asked her husband, "Buddy, what were you talking about when the Admiral cut you off? When was Commander Rabb ever a husband?"

"Don't you remember the time I downloaded the same sex wedding ceremony off the internet…although I didn't realize that at the time…and I borrowed your wedding ring so Harm could use it in his fake marriage to Catherine Gale? They were trying to make her mother happy before she died, but then she didn't…"

He trailed off when he realized that Harriet wasn't listening to him. Instead she was looking at something on her computer. "Harriet, what are you doing?"

"When you mentioned Ms. Gale's mother it reminded me that Ms. Cavanaugh's niece seemed to think that Commander Rabb's mother had had a heart attack. I am trying to find her contact number in his personnel file to see if I can find out if she is okay for him."

"Oh, honey, that's a great idea!" Bud encouraged her.

It took a few minutes to find the information she needed and just a few more seconds to place the call. "Hello, Mrs. Burnett, this is Lieutenant Harriet Sims from JAG…"

"Oh no! Is Harm okay? Has something happened to my son?" Trish Burnett gasped.

"No, Ma'am your son is fine. I was just calling to clear up a misunderstanding."

"What misunderstanding?" she questioned when Harriet paused for breath.

"Well, you see, someone told your son that you had had a heart attack…"

"My heavens! Who would do something like that?"

"It was Admiral Chegwidden's fiancée's niece, Jordan Cavanaugh…"

Bud, who had been listening to his wife's end of the call, asked her, "Wouldn't she be Jordan Rabb if she and Harm are married?"

"Married?" came the voice on the other end of the call. "Are you saying that my son is married?"

Throwing Bud an exasperated look, Harriet told the upset woman, "Actually, Ma'am that was my husband that said that, but…"

"It doesn't matter WHO said it! The fact is that my son went and got married and didn't even tell me about it! I had to hear it from strangers!"

"Mrs. Burnett, we don't know for sure that your son did get married. There seems to be some confusion on that issue…"

"Sweetie," Bud interrupted.

"What?" Harriet snapped, and looked up at him with annoyance for interrupting her again.

Pointing to the lights on the front of the phone, he informed her, "She hung up."

Looking down and seeing that her husband was right, Harriet muttered, "Oh dear." With a quick decision, she got to her feet and hurried towards the Admiral's office.

"Harriet! What are you going to do?" Bud gasped as he tried to follow her quick pace.

"I'm going to tell Commander Rabb that his mother is okay," she stated as she entered Petty Officer Coates' office.

"Ma'am, I don't think you should go in there," Jen told her.

"I have an important message to deliver," Harriet insisted as she knocked once on the door and without waiting for an answer pushed it open and went in.

To be continued…


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

When they were all in his office, with the door closed, Admiral Chegwidden instructed, "Everyone take a seat." Once they did so he propped himself against the edge of his desk and with his arms folded across his chest, he said, "All right, Jordan, explain yourself."

"But, Sir!" Harm protested.

"You'll have your chance, Commander!" AJ snapped.

Harm fell silent and sat back in his chair.

Having had a few moments to calm down, Jordan turned hurt eyes on Harm and said, "You know, I don't understand how you got here before me. If you wanted to surprise me with getting your commission back, you really didn't have to pretend your mother had a heart attack. That was just sick!"

"I got my commission back two weeks ago, but as for the rest, I have no idea what you're talking about," Harm declared.

"Jordan is talking about the fact that you and she have been living together in Boston! She told Sarah and I that when she was here on her last visit!" Meredith interjected

"Not living together, Aunt Merry. After my visit here, Harm and I got married."

Harm had thrown a disbelieving stare at Meredith when she felt the need to jump into the conversation. He could see how distressed Jordan was becoming and tried to use his most soothing voice when he stated, "Jordan, we may have had some good times while I was in Boston, but we certainly are not married."

"Then how do you explain this?" she glared at him, thrusting out her left hand that had a plain gold band on the third finger.

"That doesn't prove anything, anyone can buy a ring," he retorted.

"Are you calling my niece a liar?" Meredith challenged.

"Everyone needs to calm down, we need to get this straightened out," AJ commanded. "I can vouch for the fact that Commander Rabb has been back here at JAG for the last two weeks. Before that, it was my belief that he was working as a crop duster."

"I was," Harm confirmed.

"Oh really? Then how do you explain what Jordan is saying?" Meredith wanted to know.

"I have no clue!" Harm insisted. "Not only was I crop dusting, but I was very busy with Mattie!"

"Another woman?" Meredith gasped.

"I would hardly call her a woman, Mattie is only sixteen."

While AJ was wondering what charges he would have to bring up Harm on for consorting with a minor, Jordan had gotten to her feet and started to pace back and forth in front of AJ's fireplace. Now she stopped in front of Harm and with her fists planted on her hips she demanded, "Let me get this straight! You are denying that for the last four and a half months you have been living with me in Boston?"

"Yes!" Harm answered with some exasperation.

"You also deny that several weeks ago you and I went to Atlantic City to get married?"

"I do!" he confirmed, realizing after he had said it that may not have been the best choice of words.

"And I suppose you will also deny that I am pregnant with your child?"

As Meredith exclaimed, "You're pregnant! Oh Jordie!" the office door opened.

AJ looked up ready to read PO Coates the riot act for interrupting them, when he saw that it was Lieutenant Sims. Coates was right behind her protesting that she had tried to stop her.

Meanwhile, Harm was outraged and jumping to his feet declared, "You may be pregnant, but there is no way it's mine!"

"How can you say that?" Meredith challenged also getting out of her chair.

"Everyone sit down!" AJ broke in.

Harriet stood there in stunned silence at the scene she had walked into. The Admiral had just ordered everyone to sit and as the ones that had been in the room returned to their seats she was trying to figure out if he meant for her to sit down as well, when he solved the problem for her. "Not you, Lieutenant. But I would like to know what you are doing in here. I trust that you had a good reason for interrupting us?"

To be continued…


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"Ummm, yes, Sir! I just wanted to let the Commander know that I was able to contact his mother in CA. She is fine. There was no heart attack."

"Thank you, Harriet. That is good news. Dismissed."

Although she truly wanted to stay and find out what the outcome of all the drama would be, she knew the Admiral would brook no requests to the contrary when he used that tone of voice. As she was leaving she heard him say to the others, "There has to be a logical explanation for all of this. We just need to keep cool heads to figure it out."

"I would like to know how Commander Rabb could get my niece pregnant and then deny it!" Meredith was the first to jump into the silence.

"I would like to hear the answer to that too," Jordan insisted.

"Jordan, I don't meant to doubt your word, but are you sure that it was Commander Rabb?" AJ questioned.

"Of course I am!" she declared. "I even have pictures of us together if you need proof!"

One eyebrow shot up as AJ thought; it had only been her word against his up to now. Even though Rabb was a ladies man, AJ knew that he'd been back here at JAG for two weeks.

Jordan was already digging around in her large shoulder bag as Harm protested, "Pictures? That's impossible!"

Meredith crowed, "That will prove Jordan right!"

Pulling out a package of photos she handed them to AJ first. He quickly flipped through them and then passing them to Harm asked, "How do you explain these, Commander?"

Meredith got up from her chair to look over Harm's shoulder at the photos. She was a bit miffed that AJ had handed them to Harm before her.

"Those were taken in Atlantic City when we got married," Jordan told them.

"Oh Jordie, I do wish you had waited to have a big wedding like mine…I mean, we could even have had a double ceremony!"

Harm had been looking at the pictures in stunned silence. Before Jordan could answer her Aunt, he said, "I just don't understand this! I have never been to Atlantic City, let alone gotten married there. If I didn't know better I would believe these too! This guy in the pictures does look like me, but it really isn't me. I mean, look at them! He's wearing a wedding ring!"

In retaliation for his earlier comment about her ring, Jordan sniped, "Anyone can take a ring off, Harm!"

"They say everyone has a twin in the world Harm, but this would have to be an identical twin brother!" Meredith claimed pointing at a close up shot of Jordan and 'Harm's' faces.

"I do have a brother, Meredith. But he is several years younger and blond. Plus he lives in Russia."

"Twins…" AJ muttered as the other three turned to look at him he continued, "You did have a twin, Harm." When Harm started to deny that, AJ held up his hand for quiet and went on to say, "Don't you remember how he had us all fooled? His excuse for the difference in his voice was a sore throat, but Jordan probably hadn't known you long enough to have noticed."

The shocked look on Harm's face couldn't be faked as he growled, "Clark Palmer!"

"Who?" Meredith and Jordan asked in unison, as AJ nodded his head.

"Clark Palmer impersonated Commander Rabb to gain access to a man who was on trial here at JAG. Palmer intended to assassinate him," AJ explained.

"He escaped from prison and tried to drive me crazy by making me think I was seeing my dead father. At the same time he was pretending to be a vet with post traumatic stress disorder to get close to the girl I was dating. Lieutenant Commander Jordan Parker was a physiatrist, and he captured her, then set up a scenario where I was to kill her. Luckily she managed to alert me and I shot him instead of her. He was sent back to prison."

"So how can you claim that he was the one in Boston with me all this time?" Jordan demanded.

To be continued…


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

"It's the only logical explanation I can think of because I know it wasn't me that was there," Harm offered. "I was informed that he escaped from prison again about five months ago. He never showed up here. I checked with the authorities several times only to find out that they had absolutely no leads on his whereabouts. I soon forgot about him."

"So none of this has been real? It's all been a lie?" Jordan gasped.

"It's the only explanation. Palmer must have done all of it to make me pay in some way for sending him to prison…twice."

"This just isn't possible! How could I have been such a fool?" she cried, dropping her head into her hands, letting the tears she had been trying so hard to hold at bay finally come.

Meredith went over to Jordan's chair. She fell to her knees next to her niece pulling her into her arms, she questioned, "Oh Jordie, what are we going to do? This is all such a mess with you being pregnant and all!"

If possible, that reminder made Jordan cry even harder.

The jarring ring of Harm's cell phone intruded into the situation. Harm pulled it out of his pocket, intending only to turn it off and deal with whomever the call was from later, until he saw that it was from his mother. Looking up at the Admiral he said apologetically, "Sir, it's my mother. If Har…Lieutenant Sims talked to her about what is going on here…"

AJ nodded as he told him, "Yes, take the call, Commander."

Harm quickly exited the office while he started to explain the call from Harriet to his mother.

As Jordan continued to cry, Meredith looked at AJ pleadingly, "AJ, what are we going to do? We have to find some way to help Jordie! This man, whomever he is, has to pay for what he has done to her!"

"We'll do everything we can to see that he gets what he deserves, Meredith. But as smart as Palmer is, I doubt he is just waiting there in Boston to be caught. Jordan, I know this is a really bad time to be questioning you, but is there any information that might help us?"

Wiping the tears from her eyes with the heels of her hands, Jordan took a shaky breath and replied, "We parted at the airport. I was coming here and he was supposed to be going to CA to be with his mother."

Shaking his head, AJ said, "I'm guessing that was just a ruse to cover his getaway."

"I know he bought a ticket to California he showed it to me when he came back to me to tell me when his flight was."

"The ticket was to San Diego?" AJ questioned. When Jordan nodded 'yes' he speculated, "But that doesn't mean that he was intending to use it…unless…"

"Unless what?" Meredith jumped in.

"Unless…" AJ paused as his thoughts took him to the unimaginable, "Unless Palmer was planning on using Harm's mother to carry out some part of his agenda on her." Going into tactical mode, AJ told Meredith, "Darling, you stay here with Jordan, I am going to alert the authorities on what we suspect. If Commander Rabb is still on the phone with his mother I will have him warn her. I am also going to contact Detective Hoyt in Boston, to see if he can find out where Palmer might have gone to after the airport, if he didn't get on the San Diego flight."

Meanwhile, Harm had hurried through the bullpen and into his office, closing the door behind him as he tried to calm his very upset mother. "Mom, I'm not married! A man posing as me was pulling off a hoax to mess with my life by using an old girlfriend of mine against me. Well, she wasn't even a girlfriend really, more like a woman I was involved with on a case."

A few more minutes of conversation went on as things were cleared up for Trish Burnett. Just as Harm was about to hang up, his office door opened and in walked Admiral Chegwidden.

AJ was already speaking before he could jump up from his chair to come to attention, "Commander, if that is still your mother on the line, you need to warn her."

To be continued…


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"About what, Sir?" Harm asked sharply.

"There's no way of knowing for sure yet, but Jordan said Palmer purchased a plane ticket to CA. We don't know if he was actually planning on using it, but if he did…"

Before the Admiral could finish his statement, Harm barked into the phone, "Mom, put Frank on the line!"

"I heard part of what was said, and you listen to me Harmon Rabb, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" his mother insisted.

"Not against this man, Mom! Now put Frank on the line!"

"Fine," she grumbled.

Since AJ saw that Harm was handling the situation he left him to it, going to place his other calls. Using PO Coates desk so Jordan and Meredith could continue to have some privacy, he called the Boston Police Department and asked for Detective Hoyt. Informing him of what they suspected, Woody's first concern was for Jordan's wellbeing.

"She's doing about as well as can be expected. Her Aunt is with her now," AJ told him.

"Please tell her my thoughts are with her, and I will get right on tracking down this Clark Palmer person."

"Be advised that he will most likely still look like Commander Rabb. However, if that isn't the case, I am faxing you a recent picture of Mr. Palmer."

"Thank you, Admiral. I hope that I get a hold of this guy! I'd like to give him a good going over for what he's done to Jordan!"

"He's a very dangerous man, Detective. Be careful," AJ warned.

After making the call to the authorities in charge of Palmer's case, AJ spotted Bud on his way to the break room. Knowing the man's amazing abilities with a computer, he followed him.

Bud turned from getting a cup of coffee to find the Admiral entering the room. "Admiral, would you like a cup of coffee, Sir?"

"Thank you, but no, Lieutenant. I would, however, like your help with something."

"Anything at all, Sir! What can I do?" Bud questioned eagerly.

"I need you to use your computer skills to find any and all information on what Harmon Rabb has been doing in Boston for the last five months, up to and including today."

"Boston, Sir? I thought Commander Rabb was crop dusting the last several months, and I know he was in court with me this morning."

"We believe that Clark Palmer has been passing himself off as Harm in Boston. I am hoping that by knowing what he has been doing might give us a lead on what his next move might be."

Bud's eyes went round as he recalled what Palmer was capable of and the terrible possibilities of what he could be up to now. "I'll get right on it, Sir!" Bud assured the Admiral as he hurried out of the break room.

Taking a deep breath, AJ returned to his office to check on how Jordan was doing.

Meredith rose from the chair she was sitting in, making a shushing motion with her finger to her lips. She crossed the room to AJ, whispering, "After you left us alone Jordie just seemed to shut down. I got her to your couch where she promptly fell asleep."

"That might be the best thing for her and the baby right now," he stated.

"Oh, AJ, what will happen to her? Pregnant with the baby of a man like that! What is she going to do?"

"That will be up to her, Meredith. But she has you and I here, as well as her father, and many good friends in Boston. I can tell you Detective Hoyt is very concerned about her."

"I don't care about that! I'm going to keep her here so I can take care of her!"

"Meredith, Jordan is a grown woman. She is as strong willed as her Aunt. I'm sure that once she is able to think clearly she won't want to be 'taken care of'."

"But that's just it! How long do you think it will be until she is able to think clearly after experiencing something like this?"

"I think Jordan might surprise you, Meredith."

"But, AJ, she's carrying the child of a man she has to hate for what he's done to her!"

"I know that, Meredith. Jordan will have some hard choices ahead of her, but knowing that she has a lot of loving support should help her through whatever is to come."

To be continued…


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Jordan woke with a gasp followed by a hiccupping sob. By the time Meredith and AJ crossed the room to her, she was sitting up crying her heart out.

"Oh, Jordie!" Meredith exclaimed, pulling her niece into her arms. "Why don't you let me take you back to my apartment and take care of you until things are settled?"

Drawing a deep breath and trying to get a hold of her emotions, Jordan replied, "I really think I need to go home, Aunt Merry. I'm sorry about your shower, but I just don't think I can stay here for it."

"Oh, sweetie, the shower is the least of my worries! We need to focus on you and what you plan to do with this awful man's child!"

Jordan gasped as AJ protested, "Meredith!"

"What?" she turned to her fiancé, having no idea what he was upset about.

"I'm sorry I just really need to go home," she insisted, getting to her feet before AJ could answer her Aunt. "Do you think you could get me a flight, AJ?"

"Lieutenant Roberts is better at that kind of thing than I am, Jordan. He once got me a flight to Italy on Christmas Eve. I'll get him right on it." AJ made the call to Bud and once he was off the phone found Meredith trying to change her niece's mind.

"Meredith, let Jordan do what she feels she needs to. She knows that we are here and are willing to help support her in anything she decides."

"But, AJ, I want to take care of her!" Meredith protested.

"I know, darling. But right now this needs to be about what Jordan wants and she wants to go home."

"Then I will go with her!" Meredith declared.

"No! Aunt Merry I need to be alone for a while to think," Jordan sighed, overwhelmed with everything that had happened to her, then she sadly added, "and I suppose I had better start learning to rely on just myself again!"

"But, Jordan…" her aunt protested.

"Meredith!" AJ warned.

"Oh fine! I know when I'm not wanted!" Meredith pouted and left the office.

AJ sighed as he told Jordan, "Don't worry, Jordan. I will see that you get to the airport safely as soon as Bud finds you a flight."

"Thank you, AJ," she sighed in relief.

"You should also know that while you were asleep I talked to Detective Hoyt. He is very concerned about you."

"Woody is a good friend," she answered with a faint grin.

"I have a feeling he would like to be more than that."

"Maybe once, but not with the mess my life is in now," she replied.

"I think he will surprise you," AJ advised. "Nevertheless, I hope you realize that there are a lot of people that you can count on to see you through this, whatever your decision is."

"Thanks again, Uncle AJ. I think this time Meredith picked a keeper," she told him and then she surprised him with a fierce hug.

AJ would have asked what she'd meant by 'this time', but just then Bud entered through the door Meredith had left open.

"Sir, there is a flight to Boston in fifty five minutes if Ms. Cavanaugh wants one that soon."

"Yes, please book that for me, Lieutenant," Jordan said digging into her purse for her wallet.

"I will take care of it, Jordan," AJ said, already handing Bud his credit card.

Jordan might have protested that, but she came across the packet of pictures of her and the man that wasn't Harm, who had led her on for months, getting her pregnant, all with an agenda other than love. She was shredding the pictures as her tears flowed.

When she finished the last one she looked at the mess on the floor and then glanced up at AJ apologetically, "Oh god, AJ, I'm so sorry for the mess!"

Going down on one knee in front of her he patted her hands, "It's all right, Jordan. But we should head to the airport if you want to make that flight."

She nodded, letting him help her to her feet, from the couch where she had been sitting. With his arm around her shoulders they walked out of the office, pausing only long enough for him to inform Coates where they were going and then led Jordan through the bullpen.

Everything was just fine until Jordan spotted Harm walking through the room. Her knees started to buckle and if AJ hadn't had his arm around her shoulders she might have fallen to the floor. Gasping she hid her face in his shoulder as he rushed her through the bullpen as quickly as possible.

To be continued…


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

AJ felt her moan of pain reverberate through him as he hurried her into the hall and then into the elevator when the doors opened. He soothed her by repeating that everything would be all right, until he had her safely in his Escalade.

The drive to the airport was a silent one, as Jordan tried to keep herself under control.

Because she only had her duffle that could be carried on to the plane, she was able to process through the line quickly. AJ had walked with her up to the area where she had to produce her boarding pass and go through the metal detector. As she placed her keys in the little plastic tray provided by the airline she caught sight of the gold band on her hand.

With a sob Jordan tore it from her finger, frantically looking around for somewhere to throw it. AJ took a step forward and held out his hand. "I'll take it if you like, Jordan," he offered, not quite knowing why, but thinking that some day she might want it, possibly to give to her child.

Practically thrusting it at him with a grateful, "Thank you," she turned and hurried away as if she couldn't put enough distance between herself and the offending piece of metal. She didn't see the very odd looks that the airport personnel were giving her. AJ couldn't help but see them because some of them were directed at him. He wondered what they were thinking, that possibly Jordan was his wife and was breaking up with him? With a resigned sigh he turned away and pulled out his cell phone.

He called Detective Hoyt, telling him what flight Jordan was on and what time she was scheduled to land. Woody promised he would be there to pick her up.

The nearly two hour flight home was torturous for Jordan. She was alone with her thoughts for the first time since the horrible revelation. She flipped through every thing in the seat pocket in front of her while ignoring the flight attendant's safety spiel. The moment the fasten seat belt sign blinked off she was on her feet all set to pace up and down the aisle, until she encountered the barrier of the cart the flight attendants was using to serve beverages.

Trying to be helpful at Jordan's frustrated look the perky young woman informed her that there were bathrooms behind her as well as in the front of the plane. Jordan marched back to her seat practically throwing herself into it and decided to try and get some sleep. The problem was that the instant she closed her eyes Harm's face danced through her mind.

The images flashed back and forth between 'her' Harm and the real one. The looks she'd thought were love warred with the shock and horror of the real Harm's reaction to the idea of a wife and child.

'Oh god! The baby!' she thought. What was she going to do about it? Jordan had secretly worried what kind of mother she would be from the moment that she had believed she might be pregnant. She had comforted herself with the fact that Harm would be there to help her. Now, not only did she have to face that it had never been his intention to stick around, but also that she was truly alone in this. The marriage couldn't have been real, since she hadn't married Clark Palmer, or she had, but he had been using a false name. 'Oh god, it is such a mess!'

She was lost! Completely and totally lost! Not only had she lost the man she was in love with, but he had had never been real in the first place! She had also lost the future she had planned with him; she had lost her dream! As her mind ran through those thoughts her hand came to rest on her stomach, where the one remaining part of the dream grew. The future she and the Harm imposter had created together grew. This was the part that she was stuck with when this Palmer had abandoned them both.

What was she going to do? How could she keep this child who had been created on total falsehoods? This child would never be Harmon Rabb the Third. There was also no way she would name it after the evil man who had caused so much destruction in her life! When it came right down to it, Jordan could not see any way to keep this child!

To be continued…


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Jordan knew that once the baby was born she would be looking at him and would be reminded of the deception used in creating him. She would be looking for signs of Harm in the child, but they wouldn't be there, since the real Harmon Rabb had no part in creating the baby.

Suddenly she realized that she didn't even know what the father of this child looked like! It was like being pregnant from a rape! Her heart had been violated and her spirit might never recover.

Holding her emotions together as the plane landed, then as she pushed past people in her rush to get off the plane, it was the hardest thing she had ever done. Bolting down the concourse, she entered the terminal frantically trying to process in her head what she should do now.

Through the calliope of sound and thought in her mind, she dimly heard her named called. Spinning in a circle to try and find where the vaguely familiar voice had come from, Jordan finally spotted Woody waving and hurrying towards her through the crowd of other disembarking passengers.

When Woody had gotten the call from Admiral Chegwidden he put out an alert on Clark Palmer that had both his real photo and one with his disguise as Harmon Rabb on it. He headed to the security office at the airport to search through the tapes to see what Palmer had done after seeing Jordan on to her fight to Virginia.

His thought was to look for Palmer in the Rabb disguise first, since the man had spent so much time setting up the con. He prayed he wasn't wrong, because the search for Palmer's face in the crowds would take quite a bit longer since he wasn't as familiar with it. Woody had unfortunately seen much more of Rabb's face than he had wanted to since the man had re-entered Jordan's life.

He had been searching the tapes when the second call from AJ came through about Jordan retuning to Boston. Knowing that he still had nearly two hours before she would be there Woody continued trying to work out the puzzle he had discovered.

On one of the tapes he had seen Rabb…no Palmer…see Jordan off on her flight, then the con man had made several visual sweeps of the area before striding into the men's room. Palmer had been in there for nearly fifty minutes by the time stamp on the tape before exiting. While trying to mentally assess why the man had been in the rest room for such an inordinately long period of time, Woody was also faced with a second conundrum.

The man that came out of the rest room was the same height and build as the man that had entered, but his demeanor was drastically different. As he was trying to puzzle through this oddity, he realized that it was time for Jordan's flight to land. He hurried over to the terminal she was coming into after telling the head of security that he wanted copies of all the tapes he had been working on delivered to Jordan's apartment.

Jordan had cried out his name before she threw herself into his outstretched arms. He caught her as she collapsed in tears.

"Oh, Jordan, I'm so sorry about what happened. Admiral Chegwidden called and told me what Palmer did. I'll get you home and stay with you as long as you need me to," he told her.

Woody lifted her into his arms, duffle bag and all. Even as torn up as she was there was, a corner of her brain able to register surprise at how strong he was. Before her sobs overtook her again, the fleeting thought through her mind was that maybe it was that mid-western down-home raising that was the cause.

She wasn't able to process how he got her out of the airport and into the car without any help from her. Somewhere on the ride to her apartment her mind shut down and she finally surrendered to sleep from sheer emotional exhaustion.

Jordan was unaware of the fact that the car had stopped or that Woody had once again lifted her into his arms. He retrieved the keys out of her coat pocket, opened her door and carried her inside all without waking her. She stirred only slightly when he removed her shoes, but was out cold again by the time he pulled the covers over her.

To be continued…


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Leaving Jordan in her bed to sleep Woody made his way into the kitchen. He was thinking that even if she wasn't in the mood to eat when she woke, she would still need something to keep her strength up and for the baby.

The tapes arrived by messenger just as he finished cutting up vegetables for the soup he was planning to make. After checking to make sure Jordan was still asleep, Woody went back to watching the part of the tape that showed Harmon Rabb coming out of the restroom. The thing he was having such a hard time wrapping his mind around was that the Harm that went in had ram-rod straight posture and a confident stride, but the man that came out was slouched and shuffling.

He watched the same stretch of tape more than a dozen times, but all he could come up with was that now Jordan was out of the picture Palmer could relax and be himself. Having never met the man when he wasn't acting like he was Rabb, Woody had no way of knowing how he would really act. Maybe Palmer was tired of the pretense, or could it be that he was actually feeling some guilt over what he had done to Jordan?

When it came right down to it, Woody could only guess at the changes in Palmer's demeanor. But what he did know was that the man looking like Rabb was last seen on the security tape walking down the concourse of a Delta flight to CA.

His phone vibrated to alert him to of an incoming call. It was Lieutenant Bud Roberts from JAG saying that Admiral Chegwidden had instructed him to call with the information he had found on Palmer's use of the credit cards he had in Commander Rabb's name. Bud reported that Palmer had purchased a ticket to San Diego, CA. He also told Woody he'd contacted the airline to confirm that the man calling himself Harmon Rabb had used the ticket to board the flight. Bud gave him the flight number and arrival time in CA.

Checking the flight schedule Woody discovered that it had two layovers. An hour long one in Chicago, and a two hour one in Denver. He realized that it was too late to catch the plane at the Chicago layover, but that he was in luck with the Denver one! The plane wasn't due to take off from there for another twenty five minutes! He picked up his phone to make the call to stop the plane from taking off only to discover that he was too late.

Due to the blizzard that was hitting the Denver airport, it had closed seven minutes ago! The Delta flight to San Diego had been the last one to take off before that happened. Because all of the passengers had been there, they had been able to leave early.

Woody swore under his breath as he hung up. He was about to call San Diego and alert them to pick up Palmer as the plane landed, but before he could do that a cry from the bedroom stopped him.

Rushing into the room, he found Jordan sitting up in bed, with her head buried in her hands sobbing her heart out. His heart clutched to see her in such pain. He hurried to the side of the bed pulling her into his arms as he sat down. "Oh, Jordan! What can I do to help?"

"Nothing!" she gulped. "It's just that every time I wake up, it hits me all over again. I wake thinking I am living the perfect life, married to a man that I love, a baby on the way, and then moments after I open my eyes it's all ripped away!"

Taking a deep breath, with the tears still streaming their way down her cheeks, she continued, "It's all a sham! The man, the love, it was all fake!"

"No, Jordan, it wasn't!" Woody insisted. "Palmer might have been faking everything, but you weren't! The love you felt for him was real…believe me…I know. Maybe it was a fantasy you were in love with, but you did love. You couldn't be feeling this grief if that hadn't been real."

"I guess so," she admitted hesitantly. "But the one thing I do know is that I can't have this baby!"

To be continued…


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"You can't make that kind of decision in this emotional state, Jordan! You need some time to think it through clearly."

"I don't have time!" she cried in protest. "I'm already fifteen weeks pregnant and abortions are supposed to be done in the first trimester! I'm already three weeks past that!"

The sobs started again and when she covered her face with her hands he knew he had been forgotten. Getting up, he walked into the living room where his phone was. Maybe it was his mid-western values, or his Christian upbringing, but Woody had a knee jerk reaction against abortions. He knew he needed to get Jordan some help.

"Lily, I'm sorry to be calling so late, but Jordan needs you," Woody said when she answered the phone. Lily asked what was going on and he quickly explained the happenings of the day.

She was already in tears when he told her that Jordan was thinking about an abortion. Lily exclaimed, "I'll be right over," and hung up the call.

Just under twenty minutes later she was ringing the bell. Woody let her in and showed her right into the bedroom where Jordan was still crying. Lily closed the door after telling him to let her handle this.

Climbing into bed next to her friend, Lily took Jordan in her arms saying, "I'm here Jordan. Woody told me what happened, honey, and I'm so sorry."

"He's gone! It's all gone! I'm all alone again!"

"No you're not!" Lily argued. "You still have your baby to think of!"

"I can't have this baby!" Jordan protested.

"Why ever not? It's not the baby's fault that his father is a jerk!"

"Lily, I was worried that I wouldn't have been a good mother when I had Har…a husband to help out! There is no way I can raise a baby on my own!"

"Oh, Jordan! You're not alone! Don't you know that you have lots of friends here to help out, as well as your father and aunt?"

The tears seemed to pause for a moment as Jordan threw her friend a skeptical glance, "Sure! Aunt Merry is in Virginia about to be married. Dad is dating. You and Garret are practically living together, and everyone else is busy with their own lives, Lily! No one is going to be there for the 2AM feedings, teething, or all the typical childhood ailments. The person that I was going to be able to rely on for help in all that is gone."

"You know there is someone that would be happy to share every one of those experiences with you. Woody has been in love with you from the moment he first saw you. That guy has watched you go through several relationships and has always been there waiting to pick up the pieces whenever you needed him to!"

"Even if that were true, Lily, this time is dramatically different from the others."

"And yet, who was there at the airport to bring you home? Who put you safely to bed and made soup for you? Who called me when you wouldn't listen to him? And who is, even now, out there in the other room waiting and hoping that you will turn to him for help?"

"Lily! There isn't any way he would want me in this emotional state and pregnant with another man's child!"

"Have you asked him? Have you given him a chance? Have you given him any indication at all that you would want him to?"

"No…I just always thought his feelings for me were a crush. He's never said any different!"

"Again I ask you…have you ever given him the opportunity to do so?"

"I guess not," Jordan answered slowly. "But I don't know if I can ever trust my heart to love again! Even if he would be willing to take me and the baby on, I don't know that I could look at the baby every day without remembering what Har…Palmer did to me."

"I can understand that, but you need to remind yourself that it's not the baby's fault and that this child is a part of you too. He doesn't have just one parent. Before the deception came out, you were happy about the baby, I could see that! You were planning to love it and raise the baby. Isn't there still some of that love left for the baby? Your baby?"

To be continued…


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Jordan sat there thinking about Lily's words and remembering that even through the worry about what kind of a mother she would be, there had been love and excitement about the coming child. Her thoughts also analyzed what Lily had said about Woody. Maybe she could face this if she could count on his strength and support.

She would have to be honest with him up front, that at least at first, it would be because of the baby. But a relationship built on friendship might turn into something more down the road. Even if it didn't, a good solid friendship was more than a lot of people had in their lives.

Now all she had to do was find out if Lily was right and Woody would go for such a thing.

Trying a tentative smile, Jordan told Lily, "Thank you for being such a great friend. I don't know what I ever did to deserve you, but I sure am glad that I did it!"

"Me too!" Lily answered giving her a smile and hug.

"Do you think you could ask Woody to come in here?"

"Sure!" she agreed with a wide grin. Hopping off the bed and heading into the living room to do just that.

When she entered the room she found Woody watching TV. Calling his name she got no answer. Repeating herself still garnered no reply. He was deeply engrossed in the news program he was watching. Lily approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

Woody turned to her with a stunned look on his face. "He's dead," was all he said.

Startled, she asked, "Whose dead?"

"Palmer," he answered. "ZNN just reported that the plane he was on crashed in the Rocky Mountains."

"Oh wow!" she exclaimed.

As if suddenly remembering why Lily was there, Woody asked, "Jordan…how is she?"

"She's better then when I arrived. I came out to tell you that she wants to talk to you. But, how in the world is she going to handle this news on top of everything else?" Lily questioned, gesturing towards the TV.

"I don't know. Maybe we should wait to tell her. They haven't gotten rescue workers to the sight yet, but it doesn't look good for survivors."

"Then I think you're right. We should wait to tell her until we know one way or the other."

Woody nodded his agreement, saying, "I need to call Admiral Chegwidden before I go in there. They announced that Rabb was on the flight and he should let Harm know so he can dispute the report."

He made the call to AJ's cell phone, waking him with the news. AJ told Woody that he would call Harm right away and have him correct the news bulletin.

When Woody headed towards the bedroom, Lily called Garret to let him know what was going on and that she didn't know when she would be back. She was going to stay as long as Jordan needed her. Garret told her to give Jordan his best and that he understood Lily's desire to stay with her friend.

AJ was scanning through his auto dialer for Harm's number when Meredith grumbled, "Who in the world would call you in the middle of the night like this? Surely it couldn't be work on a weekend!"

He paused what he was doing to answer her, "It was Detective Hoyt from Boston. He had just heard on the news that the plane Clark Palmer was on had crashed. They aren't sure, but it's unlikely there were any survivors."

"But that's wonderful news! I mean not for the other people, of course, but it's good that the man that did all that to Jordan is dead! Did he say how Jordie was? How is she taking the news?"

"I don't know, Meredith. He didn't say. I do need to make a call however."

"A call? At this hour? Who in the world do you need to call?"

"Commander Rabb. The news reported that it was him on the plane since Palmer had bought the ticket under Harm's name."

"Oh! I hope his poor mother doesn't have a real heart attack if she hears the news!"

"I'll warn him to call her too. Thank you for thinking of that, Meredith."

"Oh, any time, my dear! But would you mind making your call in the other room? I'd like to go back to sleep."

To be continued…


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Getting out of his warm bed, AJ figured he might as well let Dammit out while he was up. Harm answered the call with a clear alert voice. When AJ questioned if he had woke him, Harm admitted he was just getting in from a date.

AJ explained the reason for his late call, advising Harm that he should alert the airlines and news media that it hadn't been him on the plane. He also added Meredith's suggestion about calling his mother.

Harm was clearly upset at this new inconvenience Palmer had brought into his life. He remembered to thank the Admiral for the call before hanging up to deal with the mess.

Woody entered the room with a tentative smile and said, "Lily said you wanted to see me?"

"I did," she answered, drying the tears on her cheeks. "She has been trying to convince me that I should have the baby. All I know is that I can't do it alone. She seems to think that you might be willing to help…"

"Help in what way, Jordan?" he asked coming farther into the room and sitting on the end of the bed facing her.

"I can't raise this baby alone and I know that. I knew it when Har…he and I were going to do it together. Lily thought that you might be willing to help me."

"Just how would that work, Jordan?"

"She said you have feelings for me, and I don't know if I could even let myself love again, but I do like you Woody! I really do, and if that means anything at all to you, then maybe we could try and do this together?" Her eyes pleaded with him.

"Jordan, you don't try and raise a baby! You either do it or you don't. A child's life is nothing to play around with."

"I know that. I just didn't know how else to ask you what I was trying to."

"I do have feelings for you. I love you. I also know you don't feel the same way about me, but if we are going to do this together we need to be in it for the long haul. I've seen too many kids that came from broken homes. So if you want my help, you'll have it, but I do have a few conditions…"

"That's fair. What are they?"

"I want you to marry me, and work on building our friendship into something more. I won't push it. We can go as slowly as you need, and if we can never be more that close friends, then I will accept that. Also, whether the baby is a boy or girl, I would like to give him, or her, my last name, if that is alright with you?"

"That's more than I could've hoped for, Woody, and I do agree to your conditions. The only thing is, what are we going to do about this fake marriage of mine?"

"Well, I noticed that you had already removed your ring…"

"I tore it off at the airport. AJ took it when I was looking for a place to throw it away."

"Okay, I'll have to check into it, but since the marriage wasn't legal, I'm guessing it won't be too hard to clear up the matter."

"That's good!" she sighed and then yawned as the emotional turmoil of the day and the late hour caught up with her.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" he suggested, rising to help her lay back down in the bed and then tucking the covers over her.

"Woody? Would you stay? Just to hold me? I really don't want to be alone right now," she asked plaintively.

"Of course I will. Just let me tell Lily that she can go home, and I'll be right back."

"Okay."

Woody did as he said he would and returned to the bedroom. Kicking off his shoes, he climbed into bed fully clothed. She snuggled into his arms and was asleep within moments. Woody was awake quite a while longer, however, wondering how this would all work out, before he gave in to sleep as well.

By morning the rescue crews had arrived at the sight of the crash and confirmed that there were no survivors. Jordan was told at that time, and reacted better than anyone had expected, only saying, "Good, I'm glad he's gone!"

The next time Nigel saw Clara Rose for his tarot reading, he told her all about what had happened and she surprised him by saying, "The cards say the dental records won't match."

To be continued…


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Clark Palmer had had over four months to plan his exit from Boston and Jordan Cavanaugh's life. He had spent some of his time, while supposedly looking for work, searching the streets of Boston for a nameless, faceless, homeless person that matched his and Rabb's height and build. Impersonating Rabb had been much simpler because of the similarities in their physical appearance. Even though he was technically one quarter inch taller than Harm, no one ever noticed that slight difference.

The first time he'd 'become' Rabb, he had faked a sore throat to cover the fact that he hadn't had the time to study and copy Harm's voice patterns. His time in prison had given him ample hours to overcome that obstacle. If Jordan had the years of exposure that Rabb's JAG family had, she would have never been able to tell the difference. As it was, her limited time with him would most likely have not made the extensive preparation necessary.

When the time came for this getaway, he had instructed the homeless guy to meet him at the airport the morning Jordan was leaving for Virginia. He had taken off the clothes he'd worn to the airport and gave them to the new Harmon Rabb. He removed his 'Harm' mask and assisted his replacement to put it on. Then, he delivered the payment to the man he'd hired. There had been several hundred dollars in cash in Harm's wallet as well as all the credit cards he had been using with Rabb's name on them. The penniless street person was more than thrilled with the nearly fifteen thousand accumulated credit limits on them.

Palmer had no qualms about letting the man charge the cards to the limits since he had no intention of paying the bills. He would also be long gone by the time those bills arrived at the address he had shared with Jordan.

Safely hundreds of miles from Boston, using his new identity, Palmer had a good meal before spending some time on the town. He then returned to his upscale hotel room at about 2am, where he turned on the television to catch the news before going to bed for the night.

He was very surprised to hear the announcer say:

"This report just in to ZNN: Delta flight 5201 which took off from Boston MS crashed tonight in the Rocky Mountains a short time after taking off from it's layover in Denver CO. The flight was the last to leave Denver International Airport at 11:35. The plane left early with its full compliment of passengers who all wanted to get off the ground before the blizzard closed the airport.

Authorities are holding out a slim chance that there might be survivors, but taking in the isolated mountainous terrain and the current inclement weather conditions, this reporter is less than hopeful. Rescue efforts can't even begin until the blizzard in the area clears.

Notables among the two hundred and eighteen passengers wer…are Senator Michael Renault, who was in Denver for his eldest daughter's wedding, seventy-two year old former child star, Tia Louise, and decorated Navy pilot, turned lawyer, Commander Harmon Rabb Jr.

We are attempting to contact family members and friends for statements on this tragedy.

Palmer clicked off the television with a chuckle and said, "I couldn't have planned that better myself! That's retribution!"

THE END


End file.
